All Who Wander Are Not Lost
by Ceggle143
Summary: What if Rose had an older sister from Pete which she discovered following "Father's Day" and what if she went to Uni while her English teacher sister went with the Doctor. And what if this half-sister had a much longer history with the Doctor than either of them knew?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who even if I would love to have some part in the creative process... **

**A/N: This takes place throughout the new series. Rose travels with the Doctor until after Father's Day, then relinquishes to my OC, Katari. I try to stay with the episodes as closely as possible. I will also be including bits and pieces from in between the episodes, discussing potential adventures in between said episodes. **

**Warning: If you do not like alternate versions of the series, such as Original Characters, or exclusion of other companions (you'll understand by the end of this story), please do not bother reading and then flaming in feedback. :) But I do appreciate feedback and constructive criticism. **

**(OH and forgive me for making Katari American-raised, even if she is English-born... as much as I wish I were English, I, alas, am not).  
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Pete looked calmly at her daughter, "He's not in charge anymore; I am."

Rose's voice cracked, "But you can't."

He smiled sadly, "Who am I, love?

"…My daddy,"

He reached out and stroked her cheek, "Love, there's something I need to tell you. Your mother will find out soon enough. Six years ago, before I was with Jackie, my old high school sweetheart and I…well, she discovered she was pregnant."

Rose gasped, "I have a sibling?"

Pete nodded, "A sister. She was born in 1979; Katharina Malloy. Her mother, Marie Malloy, moved to Virginia in the States when Katharina was only one. They're still there. I send them money occasionally."

Rose nodded, "I'll find her. My half-sister."

Rose and the Doctor found her a month later, after discovering she had moved a couple of times following college, and had recently returned to Virginia. While Katharina was accepting of Rose and her news, she was mystified by the Doctor, though eager to learn more about him.

"Katharina Ariel, this is the Doctor," Rose introduced her half-sister to the Doctor.

"Most people called me Katari," She reached her hand out to the Doctor.

"Interesting nickname," he reached his large hand out to Katari and shook it vehemently.

"I hated the nickname Kat and a friend started called me Arey instead of Ariel. So I put them together, Ka-tari," she smiled, "I always liked being different."

"Different is fantastic," the Doctor returned the smile.

Katari walked around the TARDIS console room in awe. "This is incredible. It's as if Orson Scott Card wrote your ship into existence." She ran a hand across the edge of the console, taking in the endless buttons and levers.

The Doctor grinned at Rose, "I like her," he turned to Katari, "I've never actually met Card but I've heard he's arrogant."

"Yes, I've heard similarly," Katari agreed, now setting herself lightly in the captain's chair.

"Tolkien, however… interesting man. Bit quirky, but well, who isn't?" He wagged his eyebrows excitedly.

"You've met Tolkien?" Katari eyes sparkled up at the Doctor.

"It's been a couple hundred years or so, but yes. I was going through a science fiction and fantasy phase. The idea of species writing about things they've never seen – civilizations and tools and people straight from the imaginations. It's fantastic." He enunciated each syllable of 'fantastic' slowly and clearly, as if to elaborate the meaning of the word.

Katari's smiled broadened, "It is. And to think that some of what is written may be real, even if some of it is exaggerated or has inaccuracies comparable to reality…" She paused, "Sorry, I tend to ramble."

Rose grinned at her, "S'okay, this one's a man of few words anyway." She chuckled in the direction of the Doctor.

"Does that mean you're coming along, Katari?" the Doctor was flipping some switches on the console next to Katari.

"Wha-What? Coming along?" Katari's eyes flashed between the Doctor and Rose. "But Rose is your companion."

"Actually… I've decided to go to college. I miss Mum and Mickey, especially after meeting Dad," she smiled sadly for a moment and then brightened, "Dad really wanted me to have a better life than he had. So I'm going to go to college, and then later I can always travel with the Doctor…And maybe I can when I'm on holiday…"

"Which means I have an open spot!" The Doctor waved his arm toward the TARDIS.

"But…I teach high school English. I'd lose my job…"

"Ah, Katari, time travel 'tis a wonderful thing," the Doctor grinned. "And with school on holiday right now we have a little extra leeway."

She considered for a moment, "Do you have a library?"

The Doctor's grin grew wider, "Do _I _have a library?"


	2. Chapter 2

Katari plopped into the captain's chair, "I don't think I will ever look at gas masks the same way…"

Jack chuckled, "I doubt I will either."

The Doctor circled the console, "So where to next?"

"The shower," Katari pushed herself up from the chair and skipped from the room.

The Doctor looked after her, "Not exactly what I meant."

Jack shrugged, "Women."

Katari sighed and pulled her bathrobe tighter around her. It had been a while since she'd felt this good. With her book in hand, she slipped on her Kermit the Frog slippers and headed toward the console room.

Jack was talking a mile a minute about some bikini-clad alien and a near-death experience when Katari shuffled in. She laughed to herself seeing the Doctor attempting to ignore Jack's story by deeply focusing on a screen on the console.

"Ah, Katharina Ariel," Jack stood, "Did you enjoy your shower?" He grinned mischievously.

"Dirty bastard," she winked at him. "So, any thoughts on our next stop? Or can I take a mini vacation?"

"We actually need to stop off and recharge first." The Doctor flipped through some data. "The TARDIS needs her own mini vacation."

"So we need to go to some intergalactic gas station?" Katari found her bookmarked page and flipped her book open.

"Cardiff, actually," the Doctor grinned.

Katari raised an eyebrow, "Well, that's different." 

"How is it half the time you think some villain is dead, they are actually still alive?" Katari narrowed her eyes at the Doctor who was standing next to Margaret and looking down at the model of the nuclear facility.

Margaret scowled, "I wouldn't exactly consider myself a villain, dear."

"You say tomato…" Katari smirked at Jack.

Margaret rolled her eyes. 

The egg sat on the console, wrapped in Margaret's skirt to maintain its balance. Katari marveled at it from the captain's chair.

"Amazing isn't it?" The Doctor walked into the room behind her.

She nodded without looking up, "It's mindboggling. She was an evolving, changing being and then she is back to beginning, ready to try again. And the TARDIS caused all of that. I can't begin to imagine what it must have been like to look into the vortex. The look on her face…"

"I'm not sure what it was like for her. The vortex isn't meant to be looked at or absorbed. Because the TARDIS initiated it, she must have controlled it for Margaret."

Katari stood, still eyeing the egg. "The TARDIS continues to amaze me. I wish I could talk with her and learn everything I possibly can."

The Doctor smiled, "Just listen." He flipped a switch on the console, and then left the room.


	3. Chapter 3

She had been awake for an hour, but still felt a lingering tingle, as if she could shoot energy from her fingertips. She had asked the now-regenerated Doctor about it but he had simply smiled awkwardly and shrugged, mumbling something about residual energy affecting everything in the TARDIS.

The Doctor had been attempting to set coordinates for Barcelona when he doubled over in pain. Katari tried to re-configure the coordinates for her present time and location, but the best she could do was to have the TARDIS configure a previous setting that had been used more than once, which ended up taking them to Katari's present day, but Rose's location.

The TARDIS spun into the alley, Katari holding on to the captain's chair as the Doctor leaned slightly over the console, grinning at Katari, "Little bumpy! But we'll get there,"

Just as he finished his sentence, the TARDIS halted with a jerk. "See, told you." He flashed another grin at her and started for the door.

Katari glanced around the console room before turning to the Doctor, "But, Doctor-" She was cut off as the door closed. She sighed and muttered to herself, "Fine, stumble around for a bit. I'm gonna grab a jacket." With a shake of her head, she headed back toward her room.

Katari stepped out as she zipped up her coat just as the Doctor collapsed on the ground, "What happened? Is he all right?"

Rose's friend Mickey and her mother Jackie stood next to him.

Mickey shrugged, "I don't know, he just keeled over. But who is he? Where's the Doctor?"

Katari nodded at him, "That's him. Right in front of you. That's the Doctor."

Jackie squinted in confusion, "What d'you mean, 'that's the Doctor'? Doctor who?"

Katari sighed, "He changed. He said he absorbed the Time Vortex and it changed him. Something about Time Lords cheating death by regenerating."

Mickey frowned at the Time Lord's limp body, "I suppose we should move him someplace."

Katari looked up suddenly, "Oh, I'm so sorry we are here bothering you. I was trying to reconfigure the coordinates, but I'm afraid I don't know much about how it works."

Jackie waved at her, "Nonsense. Rose would have wanted us to help. I'm afraid she's away right now. Got a job at Uni, so she's working there until tomorrow morning."

Katari nodded, "We'll have to stay to see her. She should know that the Doctor's become… well, I suppose he's a new man…or Time Lord…" She sighed at his new, lean body. "I may be able to carry him to your flat."

Mickey shook his head, "No, I can do it. That's fine." Without waiting for an answer, Mickey leaned down and flung the Doctor over his shoulder. "Yeah, this one is light as a feather."

"Here, he can wear these," Jackie whipped some striped pajamas from the bottom drawer of her dresser.

Katari accepted them and then stared at the Doctor awkwardly, "I suppose I will need to get him changed."

Jackie and Mickey looked away as Mickey cleared his throat, "Um, yeah," He coughed a bit, "We'll be in the kitchen…ya' know…if something happens." The two practically fled the room, pulling the door shut behind them.

With a gulp, Katari approached the slim man on the bed, "Well, Doctor, I'll be able to get to know you really quickly." She struggled to lift the upper half of his body off the bed and pull either arm from the now-oversized coat. Chuckling, she glanced at his sleeping face, "You really did look like an overgrown child in that thing. Let's hope you have some things in the TARDIS wardrobe that will fit this small body."

Holding him up with one hand, she slowly maneuvered the black shirt over his head and then laid him against the bed so she could fold the clothes and ready the pajama shirt. Katari paused, her eyes running over his lean body. There were hints of muscles running through his arms and abdomen, and his skin was smooth and unblemished. _Baby-like skin,_ she mused to herself.

She pulled his upper half toward her once more and wrestled with the pajama shirt to get it over his head. "Ya' know, this is much easier on dolls and babies because they're a great deal smaller and lighter." Carefully she grasped his arm and laced it through the sleeve, then followed suit on his other arm. Laying him back down, she eyed his pants, "Now for the interesting part…Let's hope the last Doctor didn't like to go commando…"

She unbuttoned his pants and sighed with relief when she saw a hint of fabric hidden underneath. Unable to lift his legs up, Katari yanked a bit on his pants. Seeing the pants jerk below his underpants waistband she yanked much harder, but gasped audibly when the pants brought the edge of his underpants with them. Her hand slapped across her eyes, "Oh, why do your clothes have to be so much looser now?" Opening one eye slightly, she spotted the side of his leg and scanned up until she could see just the edge of his waistband, then grabbing it, she forcefully pulled upward.

Cautiously, as if afraid of setting off a bomb, she lifted her hand from her eyes. "Ah, good. That could have ended badly." She exhaled deeply and finished pulling the pants legs over his ankles. "Hmm…nice legs." Katari grinned to herself as she lifted his feet through each of the pajama legs and inched them up as quickly as she could manage.

Just as Katari jerked the pajama pants over his crotch, she paused, "Did you just jump? She raised an eyebrow at the unconscious Doctor. "Almost as if you knew what I did just then…" Katari continued to stare with a wondering expression. With a shake of her head she sighed, "I am losing it."

With a flourish she covered the Doctor with the comforter and went to find Jackie and Mickey.

Katari watched the Doctor lying on the floor of the TARDIS, wondering if he would be alright. He had seemed so animated after she had asked him to help her. He still remembered her…He had snapped awake so quickly just at the sound of her voice, even though he wasn't finished regenerating. _What did that mean?_ Katari was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that he was the same person she had been traveling with for the last several months. _His personality is different, but his memory is intact. Does that mean he is the same man, or a completely new one with the same memories and ideas? Did the other Doctor die? Where did his body go?_ Her mind rattled with the possibilities and her confusion. Katari shook her thoughts aside, "Where is Jackie? I'd better go and give her a hand. It might start raining missiles out there."

Mickey grinned at Katari, "Tell her anything from a tin, that's fine."  
><strong><br>**Katari rolled her eyes at him, "Why don't you tell her yourself?"  
><strong><br>**Mickey shook his head, "I'm not that brave."

Katari chuckled, "Oh, I don't know..." She stepped outside and was immediately grabbed by a Sycorax. Katari screamed and struggled, "Get off! Get off me!"

Mickey suddenly ran from the TARDIS and Katari flipped her head back at him, _The Doctor!_ "The door! Close the door!"


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N I apologize that the last few chapters and this one have been a large amount of re-hashings of the episode transcripts. I needed to build some characterization of Katari, and this chapter in particular shows a lot of her thoughts. From here on out the chapters will be mostly new material. **

Her attempt at pretending to be the Doctor had failed. Katari wished she had spent more time studying in the Doctor's library, perhaps there were intergalactic law books that may have helped. _Think, think, what else would the Doctor do?_ Alex, Harriet Jones' assistant, was translating for the Sycorax leader who was now circling her and mocking her acting. His language made the threats sound even more imposing…_Wait, I understood that. _Her eyes grew wide at the Sycorax leader.

Alex and Harriet Jones echoed her thoughts before she looked at the leader herself, "You're talking English."

The leader growled, "I would never dirty my tongue with your primitive bile!"

"That's English," Katari pointed at him. She paused and turned around, "Can you hear English?" Perhaps she was losing her mind after all.

Mickey and Alex agreed as the leader continued to deny it.

Rapidly, her mind flipped through the meaning, "If I can hear English…then it's being translated. Which means it's working. Which means…" Cautiously Katari turned around, almost afraid that she was incorrect. But then the doors opened and he was there. The Doctor. Her heart flew to her throat and she swallowed a gasp.

"Did you miss me?"

Despite her confusion about the new Doctor, she blinked back tears of happiness, and smiled brightly.

The Doctor grabbed the Sycorax leader's whip and snatched it away, "You could have someone's eye out with that!"

_Okay, he hasn't changed _that_ much. _She stared in wonder as the Doctor continued by breaking the Sycorax's staff over his knee. _And still enjoys pissing off angry aliens, I see. _

By now the Doctor was greeting Mickey and Harriet before turning back to Katari. "Tea! That's all I needed! A good cup of tea! Superheated infusion of free radicals and tannin. Just the thing for healing the synapses…Now…first thing's first…be honest. How do I look?"

Katari wanted to laugh but withheld, "Um…different."

"Good different or bad different?"

"Just...different."

His gaze was very serious, "Am I…ginger?"

"No, you're just sort of brown."

He spun around, "Aww, I wanted to be ginger. I've never been ginger." He turned back, "And you, Katharina Ariel, fat lot of good you were – you gave up on me—oh, that's rude. That's the sort of man I am now, am I? Rude. Rude and not ginger."

_Does he not trust me now? _Katari breathed deeply as the Doctor began explaining himself to Harriet Jones.

"Did you win the election?"

"Landslide majority," Harriet Jones beamed.

"If I might interrupt!" The Sycorax leader had been so quiet, Katari seemed shocked he was there. She watched the Doctor begin his reasoning, first mocking the leader's voice, then discover the button, pondering aloud its possibilities. _He certainly talks more than the last Doctor… _An eyebrow raised with surprise as he licked the blood from his finger. _Thaaat's new… _

"Ahh. But that means…blood control—Blood control! Oh! I haven't seen blood control for years! You're controlling all the A Positives! Which leaves us with a great big stinking problem. 'Cuz I really don't know who I am. I don't know when to stop. So if I see a Great Big Threatening Button Which Should Never Ever Be Pressed…then I just wanna do this." Katari gasped as he slammed the button.

"No!" Her yell was echoed by Harriet Jones.

Alex followed them, "You killed them!"

The Doctor spoke to the Sycorax leader with a smirk, "What do you think, big fella? Are they dead?"

"We allow them to live."

"Allow? You've no choice!" The Doctor launched into a rambling explanation of the blood control. Katari pondered as he spoke. _He still has that undeniable confidence…It is still sexy. _

"From the day they arrive on the planet and blinking step into the sun. There is more to see than can ever be seen…"

She had a finger raised in the air, mouth open as if to stop him.

"More to do than—no, hold on…Sorry, that's _The Lion King_."

With a chuckle, she lowered her finger, _Thought he'd catch on… _But then her smile vanished as the Doctor grabbed a sword and challenged the Sycorax. _Is he well enough now? What if… _


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: There are clearly some religious ideals in this chapter. I understand if there are people who do not agree with them, but please respect them. Thank you. **

"Katharina." The Doctor grinned at her from the other side of the console. She was once more in her bathrobe and Kermit slippers.

"Hey," her voice was soft and quiet. Since returning from London, and then New New York she had felt more comfortable with the new Doctor, though she still wasn't entirely sure about what had happened to the old Doctor. But there was no doubt in her mind that her feelings had grown for him since his regeneration.

"So I was thinking, we could always go to Barcelona, since we never had the chance. Or we could go to this tiny little planet that inspired the Grimm Brothers…" He rambled on at her look of surprise, "Oh, what you didn't think the Grimm Brothers were human, did you? They went from planet to planet pawning off their fairy tales. Oh, changed them of course, to fit with the local culture, but they were gruesome beings, though. The planet, ironically, is a bit closer to Disney's versions of some of the fairy tales. Mice singing, cats dancing, that sort of thing. Although, the girl they fashioned Cinderella after never _did _marry the prince. Had the proposal and all, but decided to tour with the mice. Good act, really. Ran for a decade or so."

He glanced up in surprise from where he was fiddling with some wires on the console as he spoke. "What's so funny?"

Katari was giggling incoherently from the captain's chair as the Doctor continued to stare up at her, eyes wide with surprise and wonder.

"You are. You're like some educational TV show host, but…on speed, or something," she snorted.

The Doctor pouted, "Says the person who just snorted."

Which made her snort harder. The Doctor's pout was replaced with a grin. "Though it is rather amusing."

Katari stifled her laughter and tried to speak seriously, "I could actually just use some down time. Need to relax, think, that sort of thing."

The Doctor cocked his head slightly, "Think? Bout wha?"

"What, I'm not allowed to have thoughts?" Katari smirked at him.

"No, no, no, no, no. Just…curious. Sounded…ominous."

With a shrug, she stood from the captain's chair. "Not necessarily. I just like to think on occasion."

The Doctor nodded, "I also have that problem sometimes. Thinking, I mean. Bothersome habit."

Katari stuck out her tongue and made for the door to the hallway, "Just find someplace where Monty Python's killer rabbit isn't lurking behind some rock, waiting to prove its existence, hmm?"

"Weeell, strictly speaking, the only killer rabbits in this universe aren't actually _rabbits_ per say, but more like a crossbreed of rabbit and rat with a touch of crocodile."

A hand waved at him as Katari rounded the corner, as if dismissing his comments, "You know what I mean."

Lavender scented water gurgled over subtly glowing rocks; two full moons rose high in the West and North, and an orange sun shined in the South. Katari breathed in the smell of the lavender water, her feet sliding against the rocks luxuriously.

"The scent of lavender is naturally calming," the Doctor mused from where he sat on an oversized green and blue streaked rock.

Katari grinned and took on a voice similar to the Doctor's, "Weeell, strictly speaking, lavender _is _my favorite smell, cept of course, for the smell of summer rain, and Adidas after shave, and incense, particularly Dragon's Blood incense, which is bad when it distracts me from my rituals, but weeell, what are you gonna do, yeah?"

The Doctor was eyeing her, "Was that supposed to be me?"

"No..no, no, weeell, yes, perhaps a touch." Katari's grin grew wider and more mischievous.

"Doesn't sound a thing like me," he turned away with a pout. He turned back, "What rituals?"

"Hmm?" Katari was dancing her fingers across the top of the stream.

"You said the incense distracts you from your rituals."

"Oh. Did I not mention that I'm Wiccan?" Katari glanced up and pulled her fingers from the stream.

"Ah, interesting," the Doctor grew serious, silently pondering.

"Is that bad?"

"No, no, just interesting." He shook his head. "So you believe in magick and whatnot?"

"I believe there are natural cycles of magick and the sanctity in nature." She watched his reaction. "You can't tell me that after everything you've seen, after everything you see on a daily basis, that you don't believe in magick?"

"All of the things that I see are explained by science and by the cultures and anatomical features of each given species and race. Humans do not possess magick by any means. Your species does not allow for such things. The Earth itself, while glorious, does not harness magick."

"As far as you know," Ka-tari prodded. "How many times are you surprised by what humans or other species can do? How do you know this isn't the same?"

"Because Wicca involves worshipping a God and Goddess, asking deities for power."

"See now that depends on said Wiccan's beliefs. While I believe in a God and Goddess, I believe that magick is drawn from the Earth and not from power passed from a deity to a person. The God and Goddess just aid in the drawing of magick." Katari stopped the Doctor from his retort, "I don't mind that you have other beliefs, Doctor, but I would appreciate it if you would respect mine."

The Doctor scoffed, "I respect all beliefs."

Katari stood, "Great. I'm gonna go take a walk," she paused, "assuming there aren't rabid aliens waiting to pounce on me if I head that direction." She pointed through some trees in a thick, glimmering forest.

"I could just come with you," the Doctor made to stand.

Quick to protest, Katari cleared her throat and calmed herself, "No, that's fine, I'll yell if something happens." With a flourish she grabbed a small tote bag that lay on the ground beside her and set off. "I'll be back soon."

She had walked for about ten minutes through the forest when she found a peaceful, grassy area, obscured by towering trees of pink and yellow. Katari pulled some items from her bag and set them around her. It was much easier to meditate here, in nature, though the TARDIS would attempt to quiet her hum, and light her room in a way that it appeared to be a natural glow from a late sun.

With skilled effort, she cast a circle and focused on the thoughts that had been plaguing her.

"God and Goddess, Guardians of the Watchtowers of the East, West, North and South, of air, water, earth and fire, I humbly ask your assistance in my decision. I implore the magick of the Earth, the magick of all things natural. I ask of this assistance and ensure this magick be done without harm intended to any." Katari lit a candle for each watchtower, and then another in the center of the circle as she focused on her confusion, "What is my path? Where am I needed?" She pictured her former students, and then pictured the Doctor and the TARDIS. "I want to positively influence my students, affect future generations. But I do this with the Doctor; I save them every day with the Doctor. Where do I belong?" She lit her incense and willed herself to absorb the energy.

The Doctor stood watching silently from behind a tree. He had followed her to make sure she would be safe, despite attempting to convince himself that he had picked a safe place for once. This was the last thing he had expected to find. _She's torn between staying and going back to her students? I didn't realize she would miss them so much… _

He turned and fled silently as she began thanking the Watchtowers and performing a closing ritual.

**I can has reviews, yeees? **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I am attempting to fix the fact that this is all italicized, but the upload manager is acting strangely. I also just realized that the spaces I keep putting in to separate new times and places are not appearing despite the many times I have attempted to fix it. It greatly annoys me, but... I suppose I will have to just suffer.  
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That night Katari dreamt of the old Doctor. He was staring at her with awe and fear. She heard herself speak, "I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the words... I scatter them in time and space. A message to lead myself here." The dream was unusually vivid. She could feel power coursing through her body. The knowledge was almost overwhelming but somehow she was able to keep it straight in her mind.

Katari raised a hand and a Dalek disintegrated.

She woke abruptly, a feeling of power still ghosting her mind and body._ This feels like the energy after the Doctor's regeneration. Does this dream mean something about that day?_

Each night she had the same dream, but each night it lasted longer, revealing more and more until one night when it halted at the same point as the night before: the power leaving her body as the Doctor pressed his lips against her's.

"Doctor?" Katari was finishing up on her scrambled eggs as the Doctor was buried in a Batman comic book.

"What?" He looked up, a bit flustered, "Time Lords can like comic books too." He shoved the comic in his lap.

"Um…okay, I wasn't saying they couldn't…"

"Oh," he pulled the comic book up from his lap and set it on the table. "Okay." He brightened, "What would you like?"

"Well…" she had spent all morning thinking of an easy way to ask him about the dreams. "I've been having an…odd dream lately and I was wondering if perhaps you could shed some light on it."

"Oh, odd dreams, one of my favorites. Does it involve any gigantic foodstuffs come to life because those are fascinating," he leaned in towards her over the table.

"Nooo…" she drew the word out slowly, and gave him a strange look. "Actually, it's a dream about when you were the other Doctor." She paused to see his reaction, but nothing sparked so she continued, "It was back when you were on Satellite 5, except I was there too. I called myself Bad Wolf and said that I create myself. You remember that energy I felt after I woke up when you started changing?" He made little movement but Katari saw his eyes widen for a moment before they flashed back to normal.

"Yes, I remember."

"Well in the dream that same energy is running through me except multiplied. The energy caused me to destroy the Daleks' fleet and save you. But then the feeling leaves me, as if you pull it from me…Any ideas?"

The Doctor pursed his lips and started to shake his head slightly, "How strange. I have no idea what it could mean."

"It just seems so real…so vivid. I don't usually dream like that unless it's something significant. It almost seems more like a memory rather than a dream." Katari eyed him. "You could clarify that for me. If it is a memory, it is one of you."

The Doctor mulled over his choices for a moment, and sighed, sitting back in his chair. "It is a memory."

"Why don't I remember it?"

"When I took the Vortex from you the memory came with it. Truly, the Vortex overtook you. You wouldn't have remembered it unless I had reminded you of it."

"So why didn't you remind me?" Katari's eyebrows furrowed.

The Doctor shifted in his seat, "You destroyed everything. That sort of thing changes you. The knowledge that was going through your mind…if I had reminded you about it so soon after it happened you may have remembered that as well. Human minds can't handle that kind of knowledge."

"But how could you be sure? And I destroyed everything that was threatening to destroy others. Yes, it would have changed me, but it wasn't murder. I don't think it would have haunted me."

"It doesn't matter if you were saving others, it does haunt you," his eyes were tired and dark, his voice low, "I am haunted by the knowledge every day. I don't want that for you."

"But it wasn't your decision to make. You don't have to protect me. I may not be over 900 years old, but I'm no child, Doctor."

The Doctor stood, "I know you're not a child, Katharina, but you can't even fathom the suffering of knowing that you have destroyed something on such a large scale. You don't need to know what that's like." He made for the door.

Katari stood from her chair and walked after him, "You think no one else is like you, Doctor." She stopped next to his chair as he paused in the doorway and turned. "We're all innocent children, safe from knowingly committing unforgiveable crimes. You alone can hold such a title." She narrowed her eyes at him and got suddenly quiet, "You are not so special, Doctor. You have a sob story and you have witnessed suffering. You have caused suffering. Well humans can have sob stories; we can witness suffering." She paused and looked him in the eye, her own eyes now dark, "We can cause suffering."

He considered her carefully for a moment, "I don't believe you capable of causing anyone suffering."

"There you go, once more, the Omnipotent Doctor, the Oncoming Storm. For someone who knows so much, you really don't know much about humans. Or about me."

"So tell me," his voice was quiet.

"And after will you tell me about you? About your suffering?" Katari raised an eyebrow at him.

"Katharina, there is…a lot…" his mouth remained open as if he was thinking of what else to say.

Katari flicked her eyes away with anger before turning back to him, "I miscarried." She went on as he tried to interrupt, "I shouldn't have even conceived. I was in college." She sat in the Doctor's chair slowly, "My sophomore year I dropped out. Starting drinking, doing any and all drugs I could get, slept around. Nothing changed when I found out I was pregnant. I made some attempts to clean up, but those were short lived." Katari looked back up at the Doctor with stony eyes, "I killed that baby. That baby, which never deserved to be conceived in those conditions. My mother didn't speak to me until after I re-enrolled in school and saw a counselor." She stood back up, "There. A piece of my life, a piece of my sob story. Am I still your Precious Innocent to be saved?"

The Doctor was silent for a moment. "You learned from it didn't you? You changed?" He waited though he clearly didn't expect an answer. "I haven't. I still do the same things. Killing and making up justifications for it. That's what I am trying to save you from." He stepped toward her.

"Doctor, do you truly believe that you kill daily with trumped up justifications and I skip beside you and watch?" Now it was her turn to step toward him, putting only a couple of feet between them. "There are decisions to be made every day. Your decisions are on a much greater scale because of who you are. That is unfortunate, but you do what you can to help. No one can fault you for that. You live with these memories pounding through your brain with little regard for yourself. You can't always protect everyone. Being here, with you, was my decision and mine alone, thus I take responsibility for myself."

The Doctor studied her, uncharacteristically silent. "Alright," his voice was steady and somber, "from now on if something happens you will have the choice to know about it or not."

"Thank you," Katari grew quiet.

He stepped toward her, further closing the gap. They could have been dancing…

"Katari." He searched her eyes, "a different name for a very different woman." He searched her eyes once more before turning and walking from the kitchen.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: The M rating should give you an idea of what's to come, but just a forewarning there is a touch of it in this chapter (haha, no pun intended). Also, some of the circumstances surrounding this episode (School Reunion) were changed for continuity purposes. I am also attempting to put in some random symbols to denote where spaces should be since the upload isn't allowing me to include them despite my attempts at editing.  
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Katari was showering, trying to scrub any lingering werewolf smells from her skin. She hadn't had a chance to think any more about where she belonged. _Perhaps I should try another ritual. Maybe being on a different planet affected the natural magick_. The hot water splashed onto her head and ran luxuriously down all sides of her body. She moaned aloud and leaned against the tiled wall. Her thoughts of another ritual were interrupted as the Doctor appeared in her head. Now that she was used to the idea that the new Doctor was _her_ Doctor, Katari found herself pushing aside thoughts about the Doctor that made her want to blush whenever she saw him.

Picking up her shower gel and popping open the lid, Katari moved to pour some into her hand but was distracted as a new smell wafted through her bathroom.

"I recognize that smell…where is it from?" Katari muttered to herself, scooping some shower gel off the side of her hand as it spilled over in her distraction. "Fresh ginger…and…the Doctor?" She couldn't place what exactly it could have been, but it did smell like the Doctor; like that small whiff she would get when they were huddled together spying on someone, or when he would pass her in the kitchen while making breakfast. A shampoo or deodorant or cologne, perhaps? Do Time Lords need deodorant or shampoo? She couldn't really picture the Doctor as the cologne-wearing type…

Her senses overpowered her confusion and the water seemed to get just a bit warmer, creating more steam in the bathroom. Lathering the shower gel, Katari began to rub it on to her arms and stomach, quickly becoming distracted by the delicious smell and the sensual feel of the smooth gel on her body. The smell of the ginger was invigorating, and the smell of the Doctor was inspirational. The scent was musky, earthy, but with a slightly herbal smell almost, simultaneously calming and exhilarating.

Leaning back once more against the warm tile, Katari rinsed the shower gel from her body, concentrating on the feel of the hot water colliding with her skin and streaming down her body, electrifying each part of her skin it touched. The Doctor's scent enveloped her, making her moan aloud with pleasure. The gel had left her skin slippery and smooth allowing her hands to glide easily across her stomach and breasts, rubbing each slowly and tenderly.

Careful to remain unheard, Katari whispered huskily as her right hand slid down over her navel and rested over the beginnings of her pubic hair, teasing herself and causing a shiver to race up her spine, "_Oh, Doctor_."

By now the Doctor's scent had overtaken the room as she slipped two fingers to her clit.

"Katari?"

She gasped and jerked her hand away guiltily as the Doctor's voice rang through the door.

He knocked on the door, "Sorry for coming into your room, but you've been in there for almost forty minutes. I know you like your hot showers, but isn't that overkill?"

"I was ju-" she stopped and cleared her throat, realizing the hoarseness of her voice, "I was just about finished!" She called over the water.

"Okay, great! I just had an idea of where we could go next!"

"Alright, I will meet you in the console room in a few minutes!" Katari waited for a response, but after all was silent for several seconds she slouched back against the tile and sighed with a mixture of frustration and sadness.

======

"So what is this newest idea that may potentially maim or kill us?" Katari sauntered in wearing a pair of tight jeans and a plain white tank top, her normally light auburn hair dark from the water it still held. She was in the process of braiding it loosely so that it fell in front of her on her left side, ending just below her breast.

The Doctor stared at her in wonderment for a moment, enthralled by a few strands of damp hair covering her right eye, before realizing she had asked a question, "Oh. Oh! Yes! I thought we could head back to your time for a bit; we landed while you were showering. I started browsing through some newspapers and found this one particular school mentioned multiple times. Breaking all sorts of new academic records. And strangely the records come about at the same time that UFO sightings increased in the area. It's intriguing." He wagged his eyebrows.

"Okay, students in school, finally, my territory. I can use my experience to help investigate."

"This isn't exactly what I meant…" Katari scowled at the cafeteria uniform as she straightened the apron. "And who wears these hats? Really?" She waved the hat around angrily.

The Doctor looked up from the wardrobe closet floor and smirked, "I think it's quaint."

"Of course you do; you're the one who gets to be a _teacher_."

"Weeell, it does make sense…you're too much of a teacher to take this position solely for investigation purposes."

"How is one 'too much of a teacher?'" Katari was fighting to keep the hat on her head.

"You'd get involved with the lesson plans and the students' interests and hobbies and assessment…" The Doctor lifted a briefcase from under a large pile of scarves, "Ah-ha!"

Katari grumbled, "Fine, I suppose you're right. But why a _cafeteria worker_?"

Katari eyed Sarah Jane. She wasn't typically the jealous type, but traveling with the Doctor just seemed so much more special, so much more exclusive. They had called Rose since returning, to see if she was interested in investigating with them, but she was buried under papers and was busy studying for tests for the end of semester. Instead, she had alerted Mickey and now he was helping Sarah Jane lift a now fixed K9 into the back of her car.

"How many of us have there been, travelling with you?" Katari's voice was quiet.

"Does it matter?"

"Yeah, it does, if I'm just the latest in a long line," Katari looked away for a moment to blink back tears.

"As opposed to what?" The Doctor furrowed his eyebrows.

"I thought you and me were... but I obviously got it wrong. This is really seeing the future. You just leave us behind. Is that what you're going to do to me?"

"No. Not to you."

"But Sarah Jane... you were that close to her once, and now... you never even mention her. Why not?"

"I don't age. I regenerate. But humans decay. You wither and you die. Imagine watching that happen to someone who you—" He stopped abruptly.

"What, Doctor?" Katari half wished he would say it, but the other half of her didn't want it to be true about Sarah Jane.

"You can spend the rest of your life with me. But I can't spend the rest of mine with you. I have to live on. Alone. That's the curse of the Time Lords." His eyes had darkened again, just like the day they fought about her discovery of Bad Wolf.

Katari studied Sarah Jane and allowed herself to relax, "With you, did he do that thing where he'd explain something at like, ninety-miles-per-hour, and you'd go, 'what?' and he'd look at you like you'd just dribbled on your shirt?"

Sarah Jane laughed, "All the time!" She grinned as she remembered, "Does he still stroke bits of the TARDIS?"

"Yeah! Yeah! He does! I'm like, 'do you two wanna be alone?'" Katari joined Sarah Jane in laughing hysterically.

Katari studied Sarah Jane as they laughed harder at the Doctor's entrance. She knew so much…but here she was now…confirming the Doctor's habits with his newest companion. Perhaps Sarah Jane was not the one she should worry about. 

Katari was exhausted as she stood in the TARDIS. It seemed as if each adventure ended in a blur, leaving them to analyze what happened through conversation. She ignored Mickey's suggestion that he come along with them, and instead looked back at Sarah Jane, whispering, "What do I do? Do I stay with him?"

"Yes. Some things are worth getting your heart broken for. Find me... if you need to, one day. Find me." Sarah Jane gave her a soft smile before stepping from the TARDIS.

Katari replayed some of Sarah Jane's earlier comments in her head as Mickey looked around the console room, _You're still clever. More than a match for him. _

That was it. Her answer. She lowered herself into the captain's chair, deep in thought. _That night after I did the ritual…I had the first dream about being Bad Wolf. That was my answer. I saved the Doctor so the Doctor can keep saving the universe. Sarah Jane just helped me realize it. I am a match for him. _Katari looked around the console room and whispered to herself softly, "This is where I belong."

Mickey looked up from some buttons, "What?"

"Oh. Nothing. Just thinking out loud." Katari smiled softly and stood from the chair. "I'll be in my room if we end up in some volcano or in the stomach of a giant sea creature alien."

Mickey grinned, "Got it."


	8. Chapter 8

The table was cold against Katari's back, the metal manacles which held her down were cutting into her skin painfully.

Mickey was rambling with fear, "…where's the Doctor? Where's the precious Doctor now? He's been gone for flipping hours, that's where he is!"

Katari peered around the room at the strange, clown-like droids. _He is hiding, waiting to pounce and save us with the same crazed plan. Or maybe he has figured out how to stop them from the other side of the fireplace and they will all suddenly stop and fall to the ground…_

Her thoughts were interrupted by one of the droids, "You are compatible."

Katari wracked her brain for a way to stall, "Well... you... you might wanna think about that. You really, really might because…Mickey and I... we didn't come here alone, oh no! And trust me - you wouldn't wanna mess with our designated driver."

She almost gasped aloud when a sharp tool was thrust in front of her, so she rambled on, "Ever heard of the Daleks? Remember them? They had a name for our friend. They had myths about him, and a name. They called him the..." Katari was cut off by singing.

"I could've danced all night…"

_That couldn't be who I think it is…_ She shook her thought aside and focused back on the droid, "They called him the…they called him the-"

The Doctor swung around the corner, singing loudly, "And still have begged for more... I could've spread my wings and done a thou- have you metthe French? My _God_ they know how to party!"

Katari narrowed her eyes at him, "Look what the cat dragged in. The _Oncoming Storm._"

"You're beginning to sound like Jackie."

"What've you been doing? Where've you been?" Katari's voice was full of exasperation.

The Doctor began to ramble about bananas and banana daiquiris as Katari glared. _I'm going to kill him. If we both survive, I will kill him and maybe the TARDIS will help me hide the body. The Doctor always says the TARDIS is female, she'd probably understand; maybe she'd even suggest easy ways to kill him without the possibility for regeneration._

By now the Doctor was pouring something that looked like red wine into the droid's mask causing it to come to a halt.

"Multigrain anti-oil. If it moves, it doesn't."

Katari shot him a quick look of annoyance before focusing on an escape. _At least he had a plan…even if he does seem like a drunken lovesick teenager…_

The Doctor flashed his sonic screwdriver at Mickey and Katari, releasing them from the table, "Alright, you two, enough lying about…time we got the rest of the ship turned off."

He began thinking aloud of the things that needed to be done, having almost an entire conversation with himself. A half-smile curled over Katari's lips before a pinging sound interrupted the Doctor's rambling.

"Report from the field... one of them must still be out there with Reinette! That'swhy I can't close the windows; there's an override!"

The droids began to come to life once more, startling Katari and Mickey.

"Many things about this are not good. Message from one of your little friends? Anything interesting?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow at one of the droids.

"She is complete. It begins." The droid responded before teleporting out with the other droids.

"What's happening?" Katari looked to the Doctor.

"One of them must've found the right time window, and now it's time to send in the troops. And this time they're bringing back her head."

Katari was in silent awe of the eloquent way Reinette spoke. She had to keep reminding herself it was mostly because of the time in which Reinette was from, and the language was more formal and reflected class. _No wonder the Doctor is so enthralled with her…_ Her thought made her sigh inwardly with sadness.

"…One may tolerate a world of demons for the sake of an angel." Reinette faced the fireplace.

Mickey began calling for Katari, "We found it. Right under our noses."

Reinette was moving through the space station just as Katari called for her not to, "No, you can't go in there…"

"So this is his world." Reinette stared in fascination, then startled at screams, "What was that?"

Mickey answered, looking at Katari, "The time window, the Doctor fixed an audio link."

"Those screams…is that my future?"

"Yes," Katari's eyes filled with pity, "I'm sorry."

"Then I must take the slower path," Reinette's voice was solemn. "That's my voice." Her eyebrows furrowed at the sound.

Katari waved Mickey off as he prodded her that they needed to help the Doctor. He ran off and Katari peered at Reinette, "Are you okay?"

"No. I'm very afraid. But you and I both know, don't we, Katharina? The Doctor is worth the monsters."

Katari nodded silently. _Oh, very much worth it. If only the time without the monsters was less frustrating. _

The clock mocked Katari, moving torturously slowly as she paced around the spaceship, waiting for the Doctor to return.

"Why is it taking so long? If it moves quicker here and slower there, shouldn't he have come back by now?"

Mickey looked up from where he sat on the floor, leaning up against the wall, "I don't know." His voice was quiet, and lacked hope.

Katari attempted to sit down next to Mickey. She traced her finger along the floor, trying to distract herself from glancing back at her watch again. _He would have been back by now. Unless he couldn't stop the droids. Or maybe he did stop the droids, but maybe…_ She paused and her heart sank at the thought, _Maybe he decided to stay with Reinette. _

"He wouldn't be able to leave the TARDIS." Mickey's voice pulled Katari from her thoughts. "He would bring her back before he stayed with her. Something else is wrong."

"How did you know what I was thinking?" Her eyes were tired.

Mickey gave her a weary half smile, "Rose had that same look after her adventures. I figured out early on what it meant. Don't worry, the Doctor feels the same."

Katari laughed bitterly, "Oh I don't know that that's true. He cares about science and saving the universe and the TARDIS. I don't think Time Lords can have any other feelings."

"He looks at you the same way you look at him. He just doesn't let you see." Mickey wrapped his hand around hers and squeezed. "Maybe one day he will let you see it." Mickey let go of her hand and pulled her into him, letting her head rest on his shoulder.

The Doctor had wandered the TARDIS quietly since they had returned. Katari saw him quickly shove a letter into his pocket as she came back into the console room after changing into her pajamas.

"Any ideas on where to go next?" Katari smiled encouragingly, hoping to get his mind off of Reinette.

"Hm?" He looked up at Katari as if realizing for the first time since boarding the TARDIS that he wasn't alone. "Oh, no. Maybe I'll let Mickey choose again." The Doctor paused and glanced toward the door to the hallway, "I, uh, need to check on something. In the…engine room. Why don't you go on to bed, Katari? I'll see you in the morning."

Katari nodded silently, not bothering to answer as he left the room. She made to sit in the captain's chair but a slip of paper caught her eye. _The Doctor's letter. He must have missed his pocket when he moved to put it away. _

Cautiously she picked it up and hesitated. As much as she wanted to know what Reinette had written, she knew she couldn't invade the Doctor's privacy like that. Sighing, she took off after the Doctor.

"Oh, Katari, I meant to ask you-" The Doctor rounded the corner and nearly bumped into her. "Oh, sorry, I-" He cut himself off as he spotted the letter in her hand.

"Oh, Doctor, I was just-"

"Why do you have that?" He looked furiously at her. "You have no right to read that."

"But, I-"

He snatched it from her hand, "Is this who you are? Katharina Ariel? A jealous insecure human who must spy on others to satisfy her curiosity?"

"It was on the-"

"I can't believe you! You had NO RIGHT!" The Doctor yelled at her, drawing closer to her as his anger grew. "This is _mine_! _My_ letter!" He waved the letter around viciously in the air.

A tear streamed down Katari's cheek as she backed away from the Doctor. "You're right." Her voice was hoarse and quiet, "I had no right to read it. No right to read about some eternal love that will live on in your head, that will haunt us both for entirely different reasons that neither of us will ever discuss." She paused, then spoke again, this time much louder. "Which is why _I didn't._ You dropped _your_ _fucking letter_ on the floor. I had just picked it up to bring it to you when you came back around the corner." Her eyes narrowed at him as she witnessed the anger drain from his face, "If you don't trust me maybe it's time I leave. Since you clearly would rather go back in time and whisk your little French whore away with you."

Angrily, and with tears still cascading down her cheeks, she shoved past the Doctor, causing him to step backward to keep from falling over. Her room was easy to find as the TARDIS had suddenly moved it directly into her path, the door easily recognizable as it was the only deep walnut door that could have come straight from a log cabin. The door locked itself as she slammed it shut after her, allowing Katari the freedom to crawl directly into her bed and weep underneath the thick quilt.


	9. Chapter 9

The Doctor sat in silence on his bed. Through the wall he could hear quiet sobs.

"You just had to suddenly move our rooms next to each other, didn't you?" he scowled at the ship. But he knew it wasn't the ship at which he was angry.

It was well after one am. He knew Katari liked to stay up late; he could often hear her singing along to music that the TARDIS played through her room. But tonight was much different.

The sound of her crying had slowly ceased, but something told him she wasn't asleep. The TARDIS hummed at him furiously.

"Yes, yes, I know." He stood quickly then hesitated, only to be met with more humming. "Well, what do I say?"

There was silence from the TARDIS. "Oh, now you're just being stubborn." He narrowed his eyes and started for the door, only to trip over a box which he was almost entirely certain had not been there before.

Katari sat in the center of the large bed, still mostly covered by her quilt. There was a soft glow from her window, with images of an ocean of deep red lapping up on a beach. The TARDIS liked to change the scenery according to her moods, though if it were feeling more sympathetic it would be an image of the Doctor being slapped by Rose's mother, playing over and over.

"I thought I belonged here. Isn't that what those dreams meant? Isn't that what Sarah Jane meant? I am the Bad Wolf…doesn't that mean I protect the Doctor?" Her eyes wandered over the room, taking in what the TARDIS had helped her set up. A bookcase of her favorite books, moved surreptitiously from the library, an oversized plush couch with an antique blown glass reading lamp, and a closet that allowed the wardrobe inside to spin on a rack for easy pondering. A collage of pictures hung on the wall, some of her mother, a few of some college friends, one of her, Rose and Mickey at a concert, and one of her and the Doctor.

It had been that same concert. He hadn't wanted to come at all, but the three of them had forced him into some clothes that couldn't be deemed a suit, and had dragged him to the concert. It was some local band that had gotten a large following in the area. Their tunes were catchy, and quickly she, Rose and Mickey had begun singing along with the chorus to one of the songs. The Doctor had been eyeing the three of them with embarrassment until Katari had pulled him into her and forced him to move to the beat of the music. He had given her a bemused look before throwing his hands up and joining in with the singing.

She smiled sadly at the picture, "It's going to be tough to pack everything. Or maybe I should leave most of it here…for his next companion." A tear ran down her irritated skin, "Oh, I thought I was done with this." Katari patted it away, and blinked back the other tears which threatened to spill.

There was a short, quiet knock on her door. "Katharina?"

She stiffened at the Doctor's voice and remained silent, debating on whether to answer him or pretend to be asleep.

There was a pause from the door, then the Doctor knocked again, "I know you're not asleep. I just wanted to talk to y- talk with you, I mean."

"It's open." Katari heard the TARDIS unlock the door and the Doctor hesitantly pushed it open. He looked disheveled, his clothes rumpled, his tie knot pulled slightly down at an angle, and his hair was even wilder than usual.

"Um, hi," he cleared his throat nervously and stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.

"Hi," Katari held his gaze for a moment, before turning away to study her quilt with interest.

"I, um…I wanted…" the Doctor shifted his weight on each foot.

"Go ahead and set the coordinates for my apartment. I can be packed by morning." Katari's voice was steady, with a quiet forcefulness. "Just make sure it's not mid-school-year, so I still have a job."

"Do you want to leave?"

She looked up at him in surprise, "I thought…I mean…you don't want me here." It seemed more like a statement, but the Doctor heard the question behind it.

"Of course I want you here."

"Oh."

The room fell silent for a moment. Katari could feel the TARDIS humming in the back of her mind, as if prodding her.

"Doctor, I-"

"Katharina-"

The spoke simultaneously, then chuckled awkwardly. The Doctor spoke again first, "I wanted to apologize for my accusations. It wasn't right of me."

She nodded, "You were a complete ass, yes."

The Doctor sputtered, "You're just supposed to accept the apology, not call me names."

"I didn't know there was a manual on the steps for apology." She smirked at him and then her expression softened, "I accept, thank you."

The Doctor crossed the room slowly and sat carefully on the edge of her bed. "Madame de Pompadour died so young and had encountered things that history didn't mean for her to encounter. She had a mind that could grasp things beyond her time. I wanted to give her the chance to expand those thoughts. See the truth."

Katari nodded, "She was an amazing woman."

The Doctor smiled at Katari, "I seem to attract amazing women." His expression made Katari blush and look down. "There is only one Bad Wolf, though. Only one woman with enough knowledge of technology and the universe that she can easily accept what we come across. Reinette would have enjoyed seeing the stars and would probably have held her own in one of our adventures, but…it would have taken her longer to comprehend some of the things that we would have seen, some of the things that _we_ _will_ see. Not because she was closed minded, but because those sorts of things were a further reach in her time."

"I still have problems grasping some of the things we witness, some of the things we do."

Her comment was awarded with a grin, "But you're still here. And you always go along with it, no matter how ridiculous."

"Well, I suppose after singlehandedly destroying an entire fleet of Daleks, witnessing an old friend literally becoming a new friend, and attempting to find anything other than jam and bananas on an ever-changing space-and-time-ship, there comes a point where you smile and nod."

The Doctor grinned, "You know, if you want something else to eat I'm sure there's something in the extra storage room."

"Or I could just go grocery shopping the next time we're on Earth in my century."

"Weeell, if you want to go about it the _boring_ way."

"I wouldn't call it the boring way as much as I would the safe way."

The Doctor laughed and made to stand from her bed but suddenly the TARDIS jerked ever so slightly, making him fall over instead, landing just on top of Katari.

Katari had little time to reaction and found herself inches from the Doctor's face, his body thrown over her own. "Um, hello, Doctor…" She coughed nervously.

The Doctor scrambled to climb off the bed without touching Katari, but his hand slid on the silk sheets below them and he fell against her once more, flailing his arms ungracefully.

Katari held her breath, trying to keep from thinking about the Doctor's body pressed against her own. He wore only his button up shirt and slacks, while she herself only had on her pajama tank top and boxers. The Doctor lifted himself up cautiously, pausing momentarily as he looked up at her face.

He cleared his throat, "I, um, I'm going to try to get up without slipping. Just, um, don't move too much. I don't want the bed to move too much and set me off balance again." He looked down at the bed, "It is far too slippery…"

Katari snorted before she could stop herself, "That's what she said."

The Doctor chuckled, "Or that's what _he_ said…"

The two both laughed for a moment until the Doctor realized he was still lying on top of his companion. Cautiously, he steadied himself with his feet and lifted himself up. Once he was clear of the silk sheets, he scrambled quickly to get away from the bed before the TARDIS could hatch any more plans.

"Well, glad we got everything worked out. Go ahead and get some sleep. Maybe in the morning I'll have discovered some waffles or bacon or something." He smiled and moved toward her door.

"Oh, bacon." Katari settled herself back in the bed, straightening the sheets and the quilt. "See if you can find some cinnamon rolls too." She flipped off her lamp on her nightstand. "Night, Doctor."

"G'night, Katharina Ariel." The door closed quietly behind him.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: This is going to cover Rise of the Cybermen and Age of Steel. It will coincide with the plot, but once again, focus more on Katari's thoughts, so just keep the main plot in mind. :)**

Gas masks had fallen from the ceiling as the TARDIS crashed. Katari huddled on the floor, preparing for more to come.

"Everyone all right – Katari – Mickey?"

Mickey was around the side of the console, "I'm fine. I'm okay, sorry."

The Doctor was staring at the console as Mickey and Katari stood, "She's dead."

Katari watched in horror as smoke rose from the TARDIS, and looked back to the Doctor, who was in awe, "The TARDIS is dead."

_I am stuck wherever we are right now. Whatever century, or planet… _Katari's breath caught in her throat. "You can fix it…" She meant it as a statement, but it came out a question.

"There's nothing to fix. She's perished," the Doctor was carefully taking note of the console, "The last TARDIS in the universe…extinct."

"But, we can get help…" Katari prodded.

"Where from?" The Doctor looked hopeless.

"Well, we've landed – we've gotta be somewhere."

The Doctor was shaking his head, "We fell out of the vortex, through the void, into nothingness. We're in some sort of no-place... the silent realm... the lost dimension..."

Mickey grinned, the door to the TARDIS cracked open, "Otherwise known as London."

Katari's heart skipped hopefully for a moment, until she saw the Doctor. He looked relieved they weren't in nothingness, but she could tell the TARDIS's death was still weighing heavily on his mind. It meant he would be stuck forever; no adventure, no traveling.

The Doctor was now talking to Mickey, "Just as we left it."

"Bang on," Mickey looked pleased.

"And that includes the zeppelins?"

The poster had moved. It was almost as if she had seen her father alive for the first time in twenty years; even if it was a poster. Katari had always wished that she had known Rose before she and the Doctor had gone back in time to the day of their father's death. Pete had visited Katari every year on her birthday until he died. She had been seven at the time of his death. He hadn't been able to visit that year because Jackie was eight months pregnant with Rose at the time of her birthday in March.

She sat on the bench, trying to recall her few memories of him. He had always swept in to their home with such force, as if a tornado had taken up residence in their living room. Several years after his death she had overheard her mother talking to a friend. The subject of Katari's father had come up and her mother was explaining, "Pete was a good man, deep down. Always regretted not seeing Katharina more than once a year, but given that I had chosen to move here to Virginia, there wasn't much more he could do." Katari remembered hearing her mother sigh deeply, "I think he was secretly grateful for the move. He was always terrified of being a bad father. Being an ocean away from his daughter gave him a way out."

He had always bought her the best toys. Toys that were the most popular here, but that weren't popular in England, so they were cheaper and easier to get. She was one of the only kids in her class to have a Cabbage Patch doll as they were not nearly as popular in Europe. Elizabeth, a red-headed toddler Cabbage Patch, still sat on a shelf in her bedroom at home, a reminder of the hours she spent playing with her.

"My Kat-a-rat!" Her father would twirl her in the air as she laughed loudly. She had asked him one year why he didn't move in with them.

He had looked around nervously, "Oh, sweetie, Daddy lives very far away. I can't leave. I love you, very much, I do. But…well, I belong there."

Katari had since realized that he was already with Jackie at the time of that question. That it truly was out of the picture.

But the man who was here was not the man who had called her Kat-a-rat. The man here didn't even know that she existed. Did she exist here? Had the Pete Tyler and Marie Malloy of this universe had a baby out of wedlock, had they even dated? And if she did exist, what would that mean if they were all stuck in this universe?

It was a very rare occurrence, but Katari found herself regretting her decision to come with the Doctor.

The Doctor and Mickey appeared suddenly, both gleeful. There you are! You all right? No applause, I fixed it! Twenty-four hours, then we're flying back to reality." His grin faded as he saw Katari looking at her phone. "What is it?"

"My phone connected. There's this... Cybus Network, it finds your phone. It gave me Internet access." Katari stared at her phone as if that would explain everything.

"Katari, whatever it says, this is the wrong world." The Doctor shook his head at her.

"I don't exist."

"What do you mean?"

"There's no Katharina Ariel Malloy. I was never born. Neither was Rose. There's my Mom, and there's Pete and Jackie…they still married…but neither Rose nor I were born."

Katari knew it was wrong, but she desperately wanted to see him. Even if he wasn't _her_ Pete, he was the only father she would ever see again. The Doctor tried to grab her phone, but she held it from him.

Katari was pleading with him now, and saw her chance when Mickey began to talk about seeing things himself.

"I'm sorry. I've gotta go." Katari shrugged at the Doctor, and headed in the direction of her father's home.

The catering outfit was uncomfortable, the house was hot from the crowd of people and her feet were killing her, but she was within feet of a man who reminded her of one of her favorite people. They had been chatting for a bit, about Jackie, and how he didn't have any children. She had thought maybe in this universe she just had a different name, but it didn't seem that way. Pete had started to talk about divorcing Jackie when he paused.

"Why am I telling _you_ all of this? We haven't met before, have we?...I dunno, you just seem sort of –right…"

Katari had to restrain herself from smiling at him. Even in a parallel universe Pete was able to share things with his daughter. He had done that when she was little. Rambled on about things she couldn't understand, then smiled at her and asked her why he was telling a four year old or five year old these things.

The Doctor had called them Cybermen, saying that they were humans who had been stripped of emotions, all humanity removed. Now Mickey's parallel universe self was dead, and she and Pete were trying to save the human race of this other universe where she nor Rose existed.

A Cyberman had just asked Pete to confirm that he was Peter Tyler.

Katari silently watched him reply, "Confirmed."

"I recognize you. I went first. My name was Jacqueline Tyler." The Cyberman replied in a monotone voice.

The Cyberman tried to restrain them as they shouted in shock, but Pete shoved forward, "You're lying. You're not her! You're not my Jackie!"

Katari was close to tears watching this parallel version of her father panic at the loss of Jackie. She had always daydreamed that something evil had kept him away from her mother, and that he truly loved Marie Malloy and wanted to be with her. But if this Pete was anything like _her_ Pete, she knew that her daydreams couldn't have be true.

Mickey was gone. Katari hadn't known him for very long, but she felt the emptiness that was left. She couldn't imagine what Rose was going to say when she discovered he had decided to stay in the other universe. Rose had started dating a man at Uni, and Katari was pretty sure that had assisted in Mickey's decision to remain there.

Pete was still in his world. Katari had thought about asking him to come back with them; maybe at the very least, Pete could be happy with Rose's Jackie. But she knew the Doctor would tell her that Pete needed to stay in his own world, that it would have been impossible for a new Pete to be with a woman who knew him as dead.

The TARDIS had surprised her with her favorite Crème Brule flavored hot chocolate. The TARDIS must have been saving it for such an occasion.

Now she sat, curled up on her reading chair, sipping the hot chocolate and rethinking her time with Pete.

"You okay?" The Doctor's voice startled her from her thoughts.

She smiled tiredly, "Yeah, I'm fine."

The Doctor entered her room cautiously, as if expecting the TARDIS to suddenly lurch him one direction or the other. "TARDIS made you hot chocolate?"

"Yeah, my favorite."

He nodded, looking as if he was going to continue but wasn't sure what else to say. "Do you have many memories of your father?"

Katari sipped at the hot chocolate and beckoned for the Doctor to sit next to her on the couch, "Sort of. I only saw him once a year, but he would stay for three or four days each time and spend every day taking me places and playing with me, buying me things, telling me stories. He didn't come that last year because Rose was going to be born soon. Mom tried to make it up to me, but I spent the whole week around my birthday pouting and crying and asking why he couldn't come. I don't remember much about how my mother told me about his death. I've probably blocked it all out. I just remember thinking the next year on my eighth birthday that he was going to be there, that he _would_ be there. I don't think I really understood until then that he wasn't coming back ever again."

The Doctor rested his hand over her's, which was sitting on top of her thigh. "I'm sure he would have come back had he been able."

Katari smiled at him, "I know."

He rubbed his thumb lightly across the back of her hand, sending shivers up her spine, then lifted his hand and stood, "Enjoy your hot chocolate."

"I will, thanks." She resisted the urge to ask him to stay and enjoy a hot chocolate with her, maybe sit and talk until the early hours of the morning. The Doctor never seemed to want to do things like that, nothing that could be constituted as bonding. Instead she smiled at him, sipped the last of her hot chocolate and pulled out her pajamas as he slipped out her door.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: This takes place between Age of Steel and The Idiot's Lantern. **

The Doctor was singing again.

Badly.

_Ugh, why does this regeneration have an affinity for singing off-key? _Katari rolled over and attempted to use her quilt to block out the Doctor's rendition of _On Top of Spaghetti._

"On top of SPAGHEEEEETTI, All covered in CHEEEEEEESE…"

"Come ON! It's not even NINE AM!" Katari turned on her iPod dock to some concerto music in attempts to drown him out.

"I LOST MY POOR MEATBALL…"

_Okay, now he's just doing this to annoy me. Meditate…meditate… that'll drown him out._

"WHEN SOMEBOOOODY SNEEEEZED!" The Doctor was now just outside Ka-tari's door, "KATHARINA ARIEL! WAKEY, WAKEY!"

"Leave me alone." Katari's voice was muffled by her quilt. She groaned when she heard the door swing open.

"So sorry, didn't catch that last bit. I'm sure it was something along the lines of, 'Why sure, Doctor, I'll be up in a half a' second and ready for our next adventure!'" His smile and energy could practically be heard in his voice.

"And to continue my previous thought, why did this regeneration have to be such a damn early bird…" muttered Katari.

"Beg your pardon?"

Katari flung the quilt from over her head and glared at him. "It's not even nine."

"So?"

She blinked at him. "We've had this discussion. I don't get up before nine."

"But it's not nine everywhere. It _is_ five o'clock somewhere." He wagged his eyebrows at her.

"We really need to work on your persuasive skills, Doctor."

"Um, okay, sure. But does that mean you're getting up now? Or if you like I could sing you something to put you back to sleep…"

He had barely finished the word before Katari practically fell out of the bed, her hair flying wildly around her and her shirt twisted up past her navel. She hastily yanked it down as she shooed him out, "Okay, okay, no need for that, I'll be ready in five." Her bedroom door was slammed shut before the Doctor could respond.

He smiled to himself as he walked down the hall, "Sing horribly off key and then threaten more singing…I will have to remember that one." He hummed Glenn Miller as he strolled toward the console room.

Katari was pulling her recently dyed, deep red hair into a bun as she sauntered into the console room.

"I thought you said five minutes?" The Doctor was tinkering with the TARDIS again.

"Yes, and I left my room within those five minutes. But that wasn't including breakfast." She licked her lips, "Mm..buttery."

The Doctor hesitated momentarily as her tongue flipped across her lips, before responding, "Well, fine. You had no say in the latest coordinates. We are already here."

"Where's here?" Katari fell into a chair and swung her feet up on the console.

"Would you… ugh," the Doctor shoved her feet off, "Seriously, how many times…"

"The same number of times it is going to take you to realize I am not a morning person." Katari smiled back innocently.

The Doctor grumbled for a moment and then a smile flashed across his face, "Actually, you have been going on about New York so much lately I decided we should visit."

Katari eyed him suspiciously, "_New_ New York, or _New York_?"

"Don't you mean New, New, New, New, New-"

"Just answer the question."

He sighed, "New York, as in the one in your time. It's pointless to go somewhere we've already _been._"

"That means _Rent_ is on Broadway right now! Can we see it!"

"Yes, Katari, that _is_ the plan!" The Doctor began elaborately dancing around as if in _West Side Story. _

"Wrong musical, Doctor."

"Meh, musical is a musical. Now…we shall venture out and get tickets!" The Doctor thrust his credit stick into the air triumphantly. "ONWARD!" 

Katari sighed happily as she stared at the signs surrounding Times Square. "I always wanted to come here as a child. Even if it had been in the middle of May like it is now even though I always wanted to go for New Year's Eve," her voice dropped quietly, "But we never had the money."

"I thought your stepfather is an engineer?" The Doctor was staring at a window display with interest. Probably imagining if the manikins had ever come to life.

"He is. But he and my Mom didn't get married until I was almost in college. It was just her income until then and struggling writers don't make much. And given when Pete died…there wasn't any child support. My grandmother wanted Mom to find out if he left anything behind so we could claim some of it, but…well, Jackie didn't know about Mom or me at that point. Mom didn't feel right about it, especially considering Jackie had Rose to take care of…"

"I always liked Marie. Less annoying than Jackie," the Doctor smiled, "I suppose it's best then that Rose stayed with her after she met her father in the past. Jackie would never have let up had Rose continued traveling with me."

"Doctor…" Katari hesitated.

"Hmm?" The Doctor was watching a cab driver flip the bird to a pedestrian. He grabbed Katari's hand and pulled her across the street.

"Do you ever…well, do you ever wish that Rose had stayed with you? That she hadn't handed her companion role to me?" Her voice could barely be heard over the honking of a cab.

The Doctor turned his full attention to her with a calm, penetrating expression, "Katharina Ariel… as much fun as I had with Rose, you two share many qualities, although I do believe you are even more stubborn than she," he paused as Katari mockingly smacked his arm, "and I have just as much, if not more fun, with you. You are an extraordinary woman and I will never forget the day that Rose tracked you down after Peter admitted your existence. You had this… unrelinquishing presence about you. Of course I realize now it's because of your stubborn, and pigheaded ways…"

Katari rolled her eyes before smiling genuinely at the Doctor. "There are just days that I wonder if she were meant to be here."

"Had I not believed you would be an excellent companion, I would have said so. Rose had other important matters at hand. She has life to live; you are older and more experienced… maybe one day she can join us when she is ready."

Katari grinned evilly, "More experienced, huh? Maybe it is a good thing I came with you instead…my younger sister with the likes of you? You probably would have helped her _get_ more experienced, yeah?"

The Doctor shook his head as he walked briskly down the sidewalk, "Dirty minded humans."

As Katari and the Doctor walked arm in arm to purchase tickets, a man paused on the opposite side of the street and stared at Ka-tari with wonder. "Well, well… looks like you haven't disappeared entirely."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: The next several chapters are going to be the start of some definite rated M material. I will be more specific in Notes at the beginning of said chapters when I post them.  
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"Two tickets to _Rent_ tomorrow at seven!" Katari bounced around the TARDIS holding the tickets as if they were beacons of hope.

"If I had known tickets to a universe-famous play were all that were needed to make you happy I would've taken you to see it eons ago. We could see it on just about any planet…" The Doctor was studying a leather bound book entitled _101 Ways to Domesticate a Sonic Screwdriver_.

"You mean _Rent_ is known on other planets?"

"Oh, yes. Very popular on Raxacoricofallapatorius in particular. They have their own form of AIDs there, so they just tweak some of the terms."

"Wow, the themes really are universal…" Katari curled up in the captain's chair, grinning in awe at the tickets. Her eyes flicked back to the Doctor, "Why on Earth do you need to domesticate the sonic screwdriver?"

"Hmm?" The Doctor looked up from his page, "Oh, I thought maybe you could cook something with it… or something. Always helps to know extra ways of using things."

"For your information, I am an excellent cook!"

The Doctor snorted, "Sure, sure."

"I am! You just haven't asked me to make anything," she leapt up from the chair, "What would you like? Lasagna? Sheppard's Pie? A two layer chocolate cake?"

"Do we have any of that Chef Boyardee stuff?" The Doctor peered at her with interest.

"Seriously?" Katari glared at him. "I suggest a list of homemade goodness and you want Chef Boyardee!"

"It's not bad. I stocked up on some a couple of regenerations ago. I wonder if they're still good…"

Katari stormed off toward the kitchen, "They won't be good after I get through with them…" She muttered as she swept out from the console room.

The Doctor chuckled and turned a page in his book.

Outside the police box stood a man clad in dark, rumpled clothing. He was handsome, average height and build, a five o'clock shadow outlined his sharp features. Behind his handsome appeal gleaned dark eyes that held anger and fire. "How have they remained inside this British-style police box?" He fiddled with his keys as he swept quickly around the box, investigating for potential hidden doors. "Interesting..." He placed a small camera against a trash can a few feet from the doors. "Well, I suppose we'll just have to wait until you reappear once more…"

The Doctor sat back in his chair with a satisfied sigh. "I am afraid that I can no longer assist the Universe. I am too full."

"Not bad for someone who doesn't eat that often." Katari smirked at his plate, which had seemingly been licked clean.

"That doesn't mean that I don't like to eat."

"Well, noted. From now on lasagna will be on the menu monthly," Katari made to grab the dishes.

"Now, now, she who cooks does not clean." The Doctor stood and took her plate from her.

"Oh, I do like that rule." Katari relaxed in her chair. "Does this mean you don't want dessert?" She chuckled as she heard a deep groan from the kitchen. "I made tiramisu to go with the lasagna."

"I have two hearts, not two stomachs." The Doctor returned with a rag to wipe the table clean.

Katari shrugged, "Well I suppose we could save it for later."

"Whoa, I never said I didn't want it." The Doctor's surprised tone made Katari halt just outside the kitchen door.

"One day, I may actually understand you." Katari's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she shook her head.

The next morning Katari bounced into the console room shortly after eight o'clock.

"Bit early for you." The Doctor was sipping some tea and reading more about domesticating his sonic screwdriver.

"We're in New York! There's no time to waste!" She grabbed his book from him and tossed it on the console. "COME ON!" She pulled on his arm, urging him from the chair.

The two bounded out of the TARDIS unaware that their movements were being watched from across town.

"Katharina Ariel!"

"You know, one of these days you will understand what I mean when I say that only my mother calls me by my full name." Katari glared at the Doctor, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Well it's the only way to get your attention sometimes. Besides, both are wonderful Shakespearean names!" The Doctor smiled his trademark grin.

"Yes, I know they're Shakespearean. That's what happens when you're the bastard daughter of a writer who leaves her childhood home of England for the shores of America in hopes to distance herself from her daughter's father."

"You make it sound so romantic," the Doctor chuckled.

Katari shrugged, "If the truth is romantic, then so be it. Now come on, I've heard there's a wonderful Wiccan shop this way. I'm dying to see it."

Katari paused to look at street signs before turning to the right to weave through a group of men in suits waiting to cross the street.

"I need to pick up a few things here for my rituals. Do you want to tempt fate and come in with me, afraid you might start to believe in it, or would you rather explore elsewhere?"

"I think I'll go explore that hot dog cart over there. Perhaps they sell tea," the Doctor ignored Katari's snort, "Would you like anything?"

"Sure, gimme a hot dog with everything on it." With that she whirled around and in to the store.

The Doctor smiled as the sun caught the crown of her head and made the strands flash in shades of red and brown and honey. "It is nice having a companion who can never make up her mind about her hair color… always good for a change of pace. Now, to find a good cuppa tea in this city…"

From behind the Doctor, dark eyes flashed inward through the windows of the Wiccan shop, violently caressing Ka-tari's body and face, "Thought you could hide by changing your hair color? You haven't changed a bit. Still the stupid, weak girl that I knew. Tonight, you will realize that leaving me was the biggest mistake you ever made." As if feeling his presence Katari glanced up as he fled into an alley.

Katari paled. _Was that…? No, no, it couldn't be. He got a job at the college. He was staying in Virginia…" _She shook her thoughts aside and concentrated on what else she needed to buy. She muttered aloud to stay focused, "Some Dragon's Blood incense…check, and finally…a new assortment of candles. Maaaybe some sage sticks to protect the TARDIS…Goddess knows she could use it." Katari chuckled to herself, attempting to let go of the nagging feeling in the back of her mind.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Sorry this is a bit short. Leading up to bigger things. **

"Are you feeling alright?" The Doctor was studying his tea and shaking his head with disgust.

"What?" Katari was startled back from her thoughts.

"You seem distracted and ill at ease…" He chucked the tea into a nearby trash can, muttering, "Rubbish."

"Oh, yeah…" Katari shook her head, "I mean, no, no I'm fine." She smiled warily up at the Doctor.

He narrowed an eye at her with suspicion. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I may have," she muttered before clearing her throat, "I just thought I saw someone I knew a long time ago. From college. Wasn't expecting it. That's all." She smiled a bit more genuinely this time as they reached the TARDIS door.

The Doctor pushed open the TARDIS door and held it open for her. "Oh, an old friend?"

"Well, an old boyfriend, actually." She slipped into the TARDIS quickly, heading for her bedroom.

The Doctor felt his hearts skip a bit. _Hm, that was odd._ "Oh, well if you like we could try to find him…" He drifted off slowly as he shut the door behind him.

"No!" Katari's response was abrupt and loud. She paused awkwardly and was quiet, "No, that's…that's okay. I'm gonna go get cleaned up for tonight." She hurried from the console room.

"Now _that_…was odd." The Doctor pondered her actions for a moment before sauntering off towards his bedroom.

The camera captured the two leaving the police box, dressed nicely for the theater. The man was dressed in a nice suit though he was still wearing the same shoes from earlier and Kate, his Kate, was wearing a short slim-fitting black dress with a plunging neckline and black stilettos. Her jewelry was simple; long silver earrings that swished with her movement and a short sparkling necklace. The two were laughing and he could tell through their bodies they were close with each other. He growled with anger, "You are _mine_, Kate. No one else may have you."

He slid his knife in his back pocket and headed for the door.

"That was _breathtaking_," Ka-tari sighed with happiness.

"Yes, there is nothing quite like the original, is there?" The Doctor mused, breathing in the night air.

"So how did the universe discover _Rent_ if no one cares about Earth?" Katari skipped lightly, giggling and staring up at the lights that shone off the buildings.

"Oh well one of the Raxacoricofallapatorians was notorious for hopping random planets and stealing plays and books. He came across it and stole it, claiming it as his own on Raxacoricofallapatorius. It spread from there," The Doctor smiled as he watched Katari spin with her arms out, taking in the lights and atmosphere. "You're either going to trip on those heels and fall into traffic or you're going to accidentally run into someone with an anger problem. Either way I won't help you."

"Sure you will! It's in your nature," She smiled back at him, wavering slightly on her heels as she steadied herself. "I wish I could fly!" She threw her arms out as a couple walked passed eyeing her.

The Doctor sidled up next to her, "You _can_ fly. In the TARDIS."

"Oh, but it's not the same," she whispered. Katari closed her eyes and stretched towards the heavens. "To be up there, nothing between the sky and my body. To be so close to the stars, to feel like you could touch them and commune with the universe." She opened her eyes to find the Doctor smiling at her wistfully.

"I suppose it's nice to travel with an English teacher and the daughter of a writer."

"I am a writer too," Katari pouted, "Just not yet published. But one day there will be famous novels by Katharina Ariel Malloy!"

"The next J.K. Rowling perhaps?" The Doctor nodded as they turned towards the alley where the TARDIS was residing.

"Exactly! That reminds me, have you finished book 7 yet? I've been dying to talk to you about it! Considering we had to go into the future to get it, I can't talk to anyone _else_ about it!"

The Doctor was distracted for a moment by a figure moving in the alley behind them.

"Hellooo…Doctor? Book 7?" Katari waved her hand in front of his face.

"Oh, yes. I only have a few more chapters. I keep getting distracted…" He glanced back over his shoulder.

"Well that's nothing new," Katari giggled. She held the TARDIS door open for the Doctor who was still looking into the alley. "Doctor?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes, coming." He let the door click shut behind him.

"I have _Take Me Out Tonight_ stuck in my head…_You wanna prowl, be my night oowwwl…" _

"_Well take my hand we're gonna howl_…" The Doctor grabbed Katari's hand and spun her around, spinning her outward and then back in towards him. Both sang together as she spun in to him, "OUUUT TONIGHT!"

Katari laughed loudly as she hit the Doctor's chest lightly, his arms still wrapped around her. The Doctor was smiling down at her.

"You really are short," The Doctor grinned.

"Hey, 5'4 isn't _that_ short. I'm like those candy bars… I'm fun sized." She grinned back at him and stuck out her tongue.

His smile lingered on his face while he held her. "You have pretty eyes. Very green."

Katari blushed furiously and looked down to try to hide the blush from him.

"They remind me of Rose's," the Doctor continued, as Katari's smile froze. "Granted, her's are brown, but they're similarly shaped… they hold similar expressions, I think."

Katari cleared her throat and backed out of the Doctor's arms. She busied herself by the console, studying some of the levers as if with great interest.

The Doctor glanced at the time, "Oh it's starting to get late, maybe we should-"

"I think I'm gonna take a quick walk. Enjoy the night for a bit," Katari interrupted.

The Doctor furrowed his eyebrows at her, "But it's already past ten..."

"Yeah, you know me… I like the night better." She smiled awkwardly.

"I don't know that it would be very safe. We are in a good neighborhood, but it is getting late…would you like me to accompany you?"

"No. No, I'll be fine. I have my phone if something mysterious pokes up." The phone was waved at him as she neared the TARDIS door. "I'll be back in a bit."

"Okay…but if you're past eleven I will come looking for you," the Doctor gave her a stern look.

"Noted." With that, she slipped out the door quickly to hide the tears that were threatening to spill over on to her flushed cheeks. With the door closed, she leaned back against the TARDIS with anguish. _I knew he'd never love me. Though I suppose it's for the best. He'll lose me soon; much sooner than he thinks. I knew going into this that I shouldn't fall for him; that it wouldn't be fair if he reciprocated. I need to forget about my feelings and think of his. _

She sighed and turned on her heel, walking back towards the theater. She'd gone about a block when she heard something behind her. "Doctor?" Katari turned and gasped.

"Hello, Kate. I've missed you."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: This chapter has explicit content. Please be aware that it is sensitive material and take that into consideration when deciding whether or not to read it. You have been warned. **

The Doctor sat in the captain's chair as the TARDIS hummed at him.

"Yes, yes, I know what I did wrong. You don't have to spell it out for me," he grumbled. "I didn't _mean_ it like that… I just… oh, leave me alone."

The TARDIS hummed back with more vigor.

"Would you…just…butt out," the Doctor stood from the captain's chair and walked towards his bedroom. The lights in the console room flashed out before he could leave the room. He stopped in mid-stride, "Okay, I get it. Now turn the lights back on." He waited. "Seriously, I understand…Fine, I will go and find her, will that make you happy?" The lights flickered back on. "You are getting testy in your old age."

The Doctor walked a few blocks. He figured she headed back to the theater since they'd spent the most time there so she was the most familiar with that area. _Katari may be stubborn, but she's not stupid. She wouldn't have gone off someplace by herself if she didn't have some idea of where she was._ By the time he reached the theater, however, he was worried. _Where is she?_ He flipped open his phone and dialed, but it went straight to voicemail. _Why does she have her phone off? She never has it off… she said once she feels lost without a phone on…_

The Doctor hurried back to the TARDIS.

"Katari! Are you back?" The Doctor flung the door open. The TARDIS hummed at him softly. "She's not back yet? Where _is_ she?" He paced around the console turning possible thoughts over in his head. Then something struck him. "Can we get any kind of record from when she was in college? Any kind of information about her personal life? Cell phone records maybe?"

The TARDIS started flipping through back records on a small screen on the console. Within a few minutes Katari's old cell phone records popped up. The Doctor scanned through and within seconds found a number that came up multiple times each day. "Who did that number belong to?"

The TARDIS flipped a few more pages to a profile for a man named Mark Reed.

"I wonder if that's the ex boyfriend she mentioned. She seemed distraught at the idea that he was here. Looks like this is going to take more investigation."

Katari groaned as she awoke. It felt like she'd been hit with a 2-by-4. She quickly noticed that her wrists and ankles were bound; with dread she opened her eyes to find herself tied to a cheap headboard and footboard. Her clothes were across the room and a blanket had been lazily strewn over her naked body.

"Ah, hell. I'd take Daleks over this any day." She closed her eyes hoping it might just be a bad dream.

"Ah, good, you're awake."

"Damn. Just once…" She cracked her eyes to confirm her fear. "Well, hello, Mark. It was really lovely of you to want to catch up, but I'm afraid I have a prior engagement…"

Mark laughed, "Oh Kate, you have that same sense of humor. No, I'm afraid you won't be going anywhere. You see, after you vanished without a trace following graduation, I went through a lot to explain why you would leave me without so much as a note. Fortunately everyone just thought you had cold feet and were a bit touched." He motioned at his head. "But now we can tell everyone that you're back and you're ready to spend the rest of your life with me."

"Is this the point where I tell you I'd rather die? Because I really think that's a bit cliché… what do you think?" Katari raised her eyebrows at him.

Mark stepped over towards the bed and slapped Katari hard across the face, her head jerked to the side with the force of his hand. "Shut the hell up, Kate. You had no right to leave me! NO RIGHT! You are MINE!"

"And you are crazy, what's the point?" Katari spat at him.

"You're in no position to be joking here, Kate."

"Stop calling me that. I hate that name."

"But it is who you are. Kate… soon to be Mrs. Kate Reed."

"Mmmm..I don't really like the ring of that. No, no, it doesn't quite suit me."

Mark narrowed his eyes at her. "Fine… if that's how you want it. You can remain here until I tire of you." With that, he left the room, closing and locking the door behind him.

Katari breathed deeply to try to calm herself and keep from crying. _Gotta get out of here… let's see… no windows…a bathroom, but doesn't look like there are windows in there either. I wonder how long it's been? Maybe the Doctor…_

She interrupted her thought and sighed aloud, "No, the Doctor won't come and get you. He doesn't know where you are; he can't track you because Mark probably turned the phone off…well, shit."

She breathed deeply and tried to focus. "Okay, he said at one point that the TARDIS connects us. How does that work? Can I contact the TARDIS and then she can tell him what happened?" Katari concentrated deeply, attempting to get an answer back from the TARDIS, a feeling, anything.

_TARDIS._

…_TARDIS._

"Crap, that's not working. Maybe I should try to meditate first to get more focus…"

Her attempt was interrupted as Mark reentered the room. "I missed you, Kate. Very much."

"Leave me alone, Mark. Let me go and you won't get hurt, I promise."

Mark just stared at her, "And who's going to hurt me, darling?"

"The Doctor will come for me. He will find you and he will hurt you. More so than you can imagine." Katari struggled against the ropes holding her legs down.

"The Doctor? Is that the man that you've been hiding in a random blue box with?"

Katari gasped.

"That's right, darling, I've been watching you. I really don't know what you see in that skinny little dweeb. Not when you could have a real man like me."

"The Doctor is the real man in this conversation…" she paused and chuckled to herself, "well sort of…"

Mark cocked his head at her briefly, before continuing on, "He'll never find you here. We're in an abandoned building with few people around. They won't even hear your screams." He grinned evilly at her as he threw the blanket off her body.

"Oh, Kate, I have missed ravishing you." His eyes raked up and down her body.

"I'm warning you, Mark. Don't come near me."

Mark didn't bother to respond. He was already tearing off his pants.

"Mark…Mark, please. Please don't." Katari's confident sarcasm turned to pleading.

"Mmm that's right, Kate, beg some more." Mark climbed on top of her and she tried desperately to wriggle out of the ropes.

"Mark, stop. You don't want to do this." He was slowing stroking down the length of her torso with the tip of his knife. Katari cried out as he slashed above her hip, blood quickly pouring from the wound.

"Oh, but I really do," with one swift movement Mark rammed inside of Katari, furiously thrusting as her screams turned into hysterical sobs.

The Doctor jumped suddenly. "Did you feel that?" He looked around the console room.

The TARDIS hummed in response.

"It's Katari! I can feel her!" He paused and focused on the link, connecting further with her mind. Her pain and fear washed over him, causing him to feel dizzy and sick. "Oh, Rassilon. What is he doing to her?" His anger coursed through his body before he could try to gain control of it. "Okay, think, Doctor. How can I find her without the phone trace? Are there any records of buildings that he owns or apartments or homes he rents?"

The screen flipped through archives and found only one small apartment listed several streets away from where the TARDIS was parked. "Well...let's try it." The Doctor grabbed his coat and headed back to the street.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: More sensitive material in this chapter. Please be aware.**

Katari was almost passed out when Mark threw a cup of water on her to wake her up.

"No time for sleeping now, Kate, dear. We have so much to catch up on."

"Go to Hell, Mark."

Mark just smirked, "Still the spitfire. I never did like that about you." He had something hidden behind his back now. Katari strained to see what he had. "Now, now, wouldn't want to ruin the surprise." With one hand still behind his back, another came forward holding his knife. "Now, we're gonna turn you on your side and you're not going to complain, right?"

Katari eyed the knife and nodded. Slowly and painfully she allowed him to turn her so her left arm stretched backward underneath her, still tied to the bedpost.

Without warning Katara heard a crack as a whip landed with heavy force across her back. She cried out, pleading him to stop. Her plea was answered with another whip across the back, then another stung her butt. She screamed for help, calling for the Doctor.

"Your Doctor can't help you now, Kate."

The Doctor rummaged through the apartment looking for any sign that Katari had been there. Nothing was out of place though. Couch, chair, pillows, all neatly placed. The kitchen was immaculate. Even the bed looked as if no one had been there in months.

"It doesn't look like anyone's been here in a while…" The Doctor muttered to himself as he shuffled through an almost-empty desk. As he reached for the second drawer another wave of emotion overtook him. Katari was in pain again. He connected with her mind, and this time tried to communicate with her.

_Katari._

He waited but received no response.

_Katari. If you can hear me concentrate and try to speak to me telepathically. _

Still nothing. Her pain was lessening, though her emotional desperation was heart wrenching. He could feel her fear coursing through him, mixed with hopelessness. He sighed before breaking the connection. "There must be something here that gives me some idea of where she is!"

He sorted through the second drawer of the desk and moved on the third. This one was locked. With a quick motion he had the drawer open with his sonic screwdriver. Inside the drawer were deeds to three other buildings, all on the opposite side of town. The deeds included plans to the buildings. _These all look like large warehouses or factories_. _He must have her in one of those._

Within moments the Doctor was running back through the streets of New York.

Katari drifted in and out of consciousness. She thought for a moment she heard the Doctor's voice, but she was sure she was dreaming or delirious. The sheets below her were dyed red from her blood. Mark had turned her back over and left, leaving the whip on the floor for later. The air in the room was getting cold now and the blanket was still flung into a corner. Katari shivered, not sure if it was from the cold or from her fear and pain.

She had lost track of the time. It could have been a few hours after she'd left the TARDIS, or a full day. _I just need to keep concentrating on the Doctor. If anyone can find me, it's him. _

Katari urged herself to stay awake and concentrate. She had heard of people using astral projection before, and she'd read about but had never tried it. Maybe if she could project herself to the Doctor she could give him some clues about where she was. She focused on the outside for a moment. There was relative quiet outside; few cars, few voices. But that could just mean that it was early in the morning and no one was up and about yet.

She sighed and took a deep breath, focusing on her breathing in order to meditate. From what she could remember she had to get into a deep meditation before she could attempt any kind of projection.

Pushing back her fear and pain, she slowly slipped further into a deep meditative state. Katari willed herself to separate from her physical body, but found it difficult to imagine. Her body was so exhausted she felt herself drifting to sleep rather than projecting outward. With a sad inward sigh, she allowed herself to drift off to sleep.

The Doctor had already reached the first building, an older building that doubled as several company's offices. It was possible she was here, being held someplace in a company office which wasn't really a company. He bounded into the building and headed straight for the first office to begin his investigation.

Katari gasped awake from the nightmare to find Mark standing over her.

"You were muttering about this Doctor in your sleep. Who is this man?"

She glared at him and refused to answer.

"Come now, Kate. What is this Doctor's name?"

"His name is The Doctor." Katari stared Mark down, hoping to unnerve him with her sudden energy.

Mark smirked at her and sat next to her on the bed. "You don't even know his name, Kate. Why would a man come for you if you don't even know his name?"

"His name is The DOCTOR. And he will come for me. He…he cares for me." She choked back tears.

"You don't sound so sure of yourself."

"He will come." Katari swallowed back her tears and shot an angry glare at Mark. "He always comes."

"He doesn't love you, Kate."

"Shut up."

"Face it. You are putting your trust in a man who won't tell you his real name. What do you actually know about him?" Mark leaned in toward her.

"I know that he is a man to trust, I know that he would risk his own life for another's, I know…"

Mark slapped her. "You know nothing about him." He leaned in closer until he was inches from her face, "Admit it. He doesn't love you. He doesn't care about you."

Katari tried to turn her head from his, but he grabbed her face and held it, "Admit it."

She shook her head from his grasp, "No."

Furiously Mark drew his knife from his pocket and slashed her arm, "Say it!"

"NO! The Doctor cares!"

Mark slashed again further down her arm. "SAY IT!"

Katari tried to refuse again but couldn't say anything through her tears, she simply just shook her head. Mark tore his pants down and threw himself on top of her still holding the knife. Slowly he pressed the knife to the top of her right breast and slid it downward, grinning manically as the skin sliced and blood dripped down her side. Just as the knife reached the top of her rib cage he released his grip and thrust into her, laughing as she screamed through sobs.

Katari felt as if her body were on fire. The welts and cuts stung and tore at her, bleeding as fresh scabs were ripped open. She could feel her insides tearing with each of Mark's violent thrusts.

He yelled angrily as he thrust, "SAY IT! SAY IT!"

Katari sobbed, praying he would stop; the pain tore through her, making her writhe under his weight.

"T-the Doctor…do-doesn't…love me…" Her tears flowed down the sides of her cheeks, falling onto her shoulders as she sobbed.

Mark slowed his movement and pulled out of her entirely. "Excellent. Maybe I'll get through to you yet." He pulled his pants off the floor and left the room without bothering to put them back on.

The Doctor had gained some information in his investigation. The building security guard knew Mark Reed and the other buildings he owned. Apparently it was a running joke that Mr. Reed owned two abandoned buildings with no foreseeable plans for either.

The Doctor ran back to the TARDIS before running on to the other buildings.

He ran around the edge of Central Park, and through traffic to gain access to an alley headed toward the first of the buildings. He was halfway through the alley when he halted to a stop.

Katari was in the alley. Standing in front of him.

"Katari?"

"I am projecting myself, Doctor. Astral projection. See? I told you magick was real." She was visibly shaken, but smiled despite herself.

"How are you? What has he done to you? This projection only shows me your image in pajamas."

"It's what I imagined myself in when I projected. I am in a windowless room. There are few cars outside and few people. I have heard trucks though. As if it is an industrial area."

The Doctor glanced at the building addresses. One was listed on an Industrial Park Rd. "Katari, I know where you are. Just hold on!"

Katari's projection let a tear escape and slide down her chin. "I told him…I told him…"

"Shh…I'm coming…" The Doctor reached out to touch her but she turned suddenly and gasped before disappearing.

The Doctor looked around frantically. _What have I gotten you into? What have I done this time? _He tore off towards the Industrial Park.

Katari was awoken abruptly from her projection. Mark was in the room again.

"The Doctor is coming." She could barely hold her head up from lack of strength and blood loss but she put as much vigor in the statement as possible.

"This again, Kate?" Mark shook his head and sat on the edge of the bed, slowly stroking her thigh. "Don't you remember when we were together? No one else wanted you. Only I wanted you."

"That won't work on me again, Mark. I'm not the same scared little girl I was back then." Katari kept urging herself to stay awake.

"What won't work? The truth?" Mark stood again. "You will stay with me this time, Kate. You never should have left last time." He walked toward the door and turned, his hand on the door handle, "If you try to leave again…I will kill you."

The door locked behind him as Katari closed her eyes and prayed for the Doctor.

The Doctor stood breathless in front of a small run down warehouse. The windows were boarded up, and one side of the building was in ruins, burnt down by a long ago fire. _Now to find a back way in…_

Katari heard a shout and a loud crack as if someone had fallen in to a large table. "Doctor?" She tried to yell, but her voice was too weak.

The Doctor's voice rang through the building, "KATARI!"

"Doctor…" Katari's voice strained to be heard. She could hear the sonic screwdriver at the door moments before it flew open.

"Oh, Rassilon… Katari…" The Doctor's eyes swept over her, her naked body caked with dried blood, her eyes dull and red. He rushed the bed and hurriedly untied the ropes. He grabbed the blanket from the corner and threw it over her.

"I told him…" Katari smiled weakly, "I told him…"

"Don't worry, Katharina… The TARDIS is set to arrive here any minute. I programmed it to come to this side of town, near the two abandoned buildings Mark owns." The Doctor picked her up gingerly, wrapping the blanket around her carefully.

"Mark…whe-where's..." Katari looked up quickly with panic, trying to regain her strength.

"It's okay. He's unconscious and tied up. I will worry about him later. You need to get to the med bay." The Doctor pulled Katari closer to his chest and walked her through the house towards where the TARDIS would be waiting.


	16. Chapter 16

It was hours before Katari would awaken. The Doctor had finished cleaning her wounds, sanitizing them and bandaging where possible. With each mark he grew angrier, plotting ways to dispose of Mark. He had to remind himself that Katari came first, and he didn't know how she would feel about what to do with Mark. He couldn't take him to a prison planet… he wasn't alien. Or maybe that would make things more fun…

The Doctor sat, watching Katari breathe slowly. He had taken her back to her room, placed her in her bed with a light sheet covering her so her cuts and gashes wouldn't hurt more from touching heavy fabrics. _Everything I touch…_

The TARDIS hummed at him.

"I know, it was someone from her past, not mine… but, I was supposed to protect her. She got upset with me and left that night. If she hadn't have left…" He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He shook off the hum of the TARDIS, "Stop saying that. She can never know. She has to think that I don't lov-" he paused, "It would be too much. For both of us."

Katari was beginning to stir. The Doctor stood cautiously next to her bed; he wasn't sure if she remembered where she was now.

"Katharina?" The Doctor whispered to her.

Katari jumped at first, her eyes flicking upward at the Doctor before they relaxed and filled with tears. "Doctor?" Her voice was shallow, almost unbelieving.

"Yes, I'm here; you're home. You're back in your room," the Doctor slowly sat on the edge of her bed.

"And Mark?" Katari's voice wavered.

"He's inside the warehouse. Tied up."

"What are you going to do to him?"

The Doctor looked at her calmly, calculating. "That depends on you."

Katari shook her head, "I don't want you to kill him. I just…is there something you can do so he'll never hurt another woman?"

"I can't hypnotize him or control him if that's what you're asking."

Katari sat up quickly, trying to think of a solution, but her head rushed with dizziness.

The Doctor reached to catch her and lay her back down, "Be careful, you're still healing."

She blushed when she realized she was still naked, and quickly pulled the covers up from where they had fallen.

The Doctor looked away, "It's okay. I had to clean your wounds anyway." He cleared his throat and looked back at her. "Katharina… I need to know what he did to you. I need to know if I have to do any other kind of tests…"

She stared at him blankly.

He looked down, "To check for any kind of sexually transmitted diseases, I mean…"

Katari looked away from the Doctor. "I'm fine."

"Katharina Ariel."

"Stop calling me that."

"Katharina Ariel."

"I said _stop calling me that." _

The Doctor paused and studied her carefully. "This isn't the first time this has happened is it?"

Katari turned on her side away from him. "I want to rest now."

He opened his mouth to object, but felt the TARDIS's resistance. He sighed and stood, "Fine. I'll bring you some soup in a bit." Before closing the door he took another look at her, wishing he could take away her memories but knowing she would never agree to it, especially after Bad Wolf. The door clicked shut before he could hear her sobs.


	17. Chapter 17

The Doctor went back for Mark the next day. He figured the time he'd spent half naked, tied up and shivering on the floor may have helped him wise up a bit.

"Good morning, Mark."

Mark looked up with rage in his eyes. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm the Doctor."

Mark eyed him, "You're Kate's mysterious Doctor? She didn't even know your name, why did you come for her?"

"My name is the Doctor. And her name is not Kate." Mark struggled to break free of the ropes. "Sorry, I don't think that will help. Those ropes aren't your everyday average ropes. I got them a centuries ago on a trip to a lovely little planet-" He paused when he saw Mark's expression of anger, "Well, perhaps another time, hm?"

"Untie me."

"Now, now, we haven't gotten to know each other. I haven't decided what to do with you yet. There's a lovely prison planet where they accept all manners of species. I'm sure they'd take a human. I would call the police here, but then Katharina would have to re-live everything in a trial, and I'm really not fond of that idea."

"What prison planet? What are going on about?" Mark squirmed around, "You're crazy. That's why Kate thinks your name is the Doctor. You're mad."

"I really must ask you to stop calling her Kate." The Doctor fiddled with the sonic screwdriver. "I really wanted to figure out some means of making this thing do domestic chores. Cleaning and the like; perhaps some means of discipline for little children who lack maturity. But I suppose we really need to just use our hands this time." The Doctor placed his hands over Mark's temples and searched for every memory of Katari.

Katari put her hand on her head almost immediately after waking up. Her entire body hurt and she was hungry and thirsty. As if on cue the Doctor knocked on her door and entered cautiously, "I brought you some more soup and some ginger ale. You didn't eat a lot yesterday but you really need to try…"

Katari nodded, "Yeah, okay." She sat up in bed, holding the covers up to her neck. "Um, Doctor…"

He set the tray down on the bed and looked up at her.

"I'm sorry for how I treated you yesterday."

He smiled, "I know." He sat next to her on the bed. "You do need to talk about it."

She nodded slowly, sipping the ginger ale. "Can we talk after I eat?"

"We can talk whenever you're comfortable."

Katari sipped the chicken broth, "Okay."

The Doctor was in the console room when he heard her shuffle in behind him. She was dressed in a baggy tee shirt and shorts with her favorite Kermit the Frog slippers. The tray was clutched tightly in her hands as she balanced the glass and bowl and tried to stand. He took the tray from her quickly and took her hand, "Let's go in the library. It's more comfortable."

She nodded half-heartedly and walked behind him to the library, still clutching his hand. The large overstuffed sofa devoured her in its fluff. The Doctor headed to the opposite couch but Katari's voice stopped him, "Will you…" she nodded her head to the spot next to her on the couch.

"Yes, of course," the Doctor sank into the couch next to her.

"Where should I start?"

The Doctor shrugged, "Your past relationship with Mark."

Katari took a slow, deep breath, "We met in college. Where else is there?" She chuckled for a second as the Doctor took her hand. "We met right after-" she paused, "right after I miscarried. I had just gotten clean. He seemed like a decent, upstanding guy. The kind of guy I needed to get back on track. There's really not much to tell. He was possessive and abusive. He stomped on any dreams I had. After everything that I had done before, I thought this was some sort of punishment; something I deserved. By the time we were about to graduate we were weeks from getting married. My mother was moving away from Williamsburg, where I grew up; she was moving back to England. It was as if some divine force had intervened. She knows what happened. She helped me. I didn't even walk at graduation. We packed up and disappeared. We didn't even leave a forwarding address. My grandparents were both dead by then so we didn't have any other relatives he could track down."

She paused as the Doctor massaged her hand to calm her, "When I saw him the other day…he had gotten a job with our college after graduation. I didn't think he'd be in New York. I kept swearing to myself that it wasn't true. It was just a figment of my imagination." She broke off with a sob.

"It's okay, Katharina," the Doctor wrapped his arms around her. "You don't have to…"

"He was never this bad. He would hit me and shove me, verbally abuse me….occasionally it would go further. He must have snapped after I left. When I woke up he already had me tied to the bed. He'd been following us, been planning everything. It was as if he had a schedule. The whip and the knife and…" She drifted off.

"Katari, I saw his memories." The Doctor stroked her hair and looked down to meet her eyes, "I know what he did. I saw everything." Two more tears slid down her cheeks and fell onto his hand. "I'm sorry."

She looked confused suddenly, "For what?"

"You didn't believe I would come."

Katari's eyes flickered away for a second and then came back to his, "He made me say it. He was too rough and I already hurt…"

"I know that deep down you weren't entirely sure. You don't know how much I do care for you. And how could you? I've never told you." The Doctor gave a half smile when he saw the light come back into her eyes. "That's what you meant when you kept saying 'I told him…' isn't it? You meant that you told him I would come."

"Where is he now?"

"Probably at home in his apartment. I wiped his memory of you. He has no trace of it and never will. Even if someone mentions your name or he sees you in person, he won't regain his memory."

She smiled up at him with relief and exhaustion; his hearts skipped again with happiness at her smile. The Doctor pulled her closer and let her bury her face deep into his chest as she wrapped her arms around his back.

Her voice was muffled, "At least I proved magick is real." The Doctor chuckled and held her until she fell asleep.


	18. Chapter 18

The Doctor could hear her yelling through the wall. With a quick jump, he was out of his chair and bounding towards her room.

Katari was still in the bed, but pleading with Mark in her dream.

"Katari…Katari…" the Doctor sat on the edge of her bed and placed a hand softly on her cheek. "_Katharina." _

With a jump she woke and sat up quickly, pulling away from the Doctor.

"It's okay. It's just me."

Wildly she looked at the Doctor for a moment before a tear rolled down her cheek. She pulled her knees to her chest, and tucked her head downward.

The Doctor scooted further onto the bed and pulled her out of her crouched position and into his arms. The dreams weren't getting any better. It had been almost a week and she still dreamt of Mark each night. He desperately wanted to ease her mind of the memories, but she adamantly refused each time he suggested it.

A sniffle interrupted the Doctor's thoughts and he peered down at Katari. "Better?"

She closed her eyes and nodded, "Yeah. I just wish I could get some sleep. I'm exhausted as it is." She looked at some of the cuts on her arms. "I'm actually surprised I am healing this quickly. My body doesn't heal well…" Katari drifted off, pushing those thoughts aside.

"Looks okay to me," the Doctor smiled, causing crinkles at the corners of his eyes.

Katari yawned.

"You should try to get back to sleep." The Doctor made to stand.

"Oh, um," Katari looked hesitantly at the Doctor. "Doctor…"

"Yes, Katari?"

"Would…well, do you think you could sleep here…ya' know, just…for tonight. I think it might help me sleep." A slight blush crept up on her cheeks, and she looked down at her quilt.

The Doctor's hearts raced. "I, well…I'm not sure-" he saw the exhaustion in her eyes as she looked up at him. He sighed quietly to himself and then replied, "Yeah, I can do that."

His Converse shoes were put neatly beside her nightstand when she suggested he would be uncomfortable wearing his slacks and button up shirt in the bed. "Why don't you get some pajamas?"

He shook his head, "I think I only have one pair, and who knows where they are now…" He unbuttoned the top button on his shirt, "But I do have on a shirt under this. I'll just wear that and these slacks."

Katari tried not to stare at the Doctor as he unbuttoned his shirt, revealing a white ribbed tank top. _Oh why did it have to be a white tank top…_ The tank top fit him so well, revealing more muscular definition than he'd had when she had changed him into Howard's pajamas as Jackie's. _I see all that Universe-saving has helped…_

"Something wrong?" The Doctor looked concerned.

"Wha? Oh, no, everything's fine," Katari blushed and looked away, realizing he had seen her staring at him.

The Doctor laid on top of the covers and loosely draped one arm over her. _She needs you to help her sleep. Remember that. Nothing else. _"Just don't think about it. Tomorrow, we can go to the planet that inspired Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or we could go to this other planet where it's winter in the morning and summer in the evening. Oh, or how about we go back to Ancient Egypt? I promise we'll avoid getting mummified." He looked down at Katari expecting an answer, but found she was sleeping quietly. He smiled and stroked her hair, "Time heals all. Maybe a Time Lord can assist with that." With a soft kiss on her temple, he pulled her closer and listened to the sound of her breathing.

The Doctor had drifted to sleep for a while, but woke suddenly when he heard Katari's voice. She was calling his name out in her sleep.

He sleepily looked over at her and then suddenly his eyes grew wide. _She's not calling for the Doctor…she's calling my _name. Leaning on one elbow, he willed the TARDIS's hum to a quiet lull and listened carefully as Katari mumbled again. _I was right. She's saying my _real _name_ _in her sleep. How is that possible? She couldn't possibly know my real name…_

But there it was again. Katari chuckled a bit in her sleep, and then fell silent once more.

"Well…that's…odd." The Doctor settled back down next to her and began to work out the possibilities.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: There is going to be a bit more time between Age of Steel and The Idiot's Lantern. Some revelations and characterization need to happen before too much more can occur. Again, forewarning, this is a completely different version of the series, so I can't guarantee that other companions will be joining the Doctor... please keep that in mind if you continue to read (which of course, I do hope for).**

Another week had passed, and Katari had asked the Doctor if they could go someplace else, see something else. She wanted to keep her mind occupied, move on with her life as if she were starting over again like she did after college.

The Doctor rapidly began flipping some levers, happy that for the first time since they had left that warehouse he knew exactly what to do.

His eyes were brighter than she had seen them in weeks. The way he practically skipped around the console, pushing buttons and pulling levers. "So where are we headed?" Katari was curled up in the captain's chair, bracing herself for the flight.

"You know, you really don't have to hold on _that_ tightly," his tone was dry.

"You say that now." She loosened her grip a bit and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Welcome to Tolorius." The Doctor waved his arm, gesturing Katari out of the TARDIS. "It's, oh, practically walking distance from the constellation that Earth dubbed Lacerta. Weeell, walking distance if you had a great deal of stamina, and could walk through space itself, anyway."

"It doesn't look much different than Earth," Katari pulled on a deep red crocheted sweater which fell just above her knees. Knotting the tie in front to hold it closed, she stepped out of the TARDIS, taking in the landscape. With the exception of very large flowers, they could have been in the mountains on Earth.

"Strictly speaking it isn't. The species here look similar to humans except they are shorter, have hair in all colors of the rainbow, and their skin has a distinctly greenish tint." The Doctor pulled the TARDIS door shut behind him. "They love fun. Known for their parties and for their spirituality. This would be the place to get a Tarot reading if you ever wanted one."

Katari looked at him with amusement, "Says the skeptic." She walked toward a small grouping of buildings, all built at sharp angles, wood and glass intermixed to create a modern, but elegant look. "This place feels…so familiar."

The Doctor shrugged, "Similar temperature range as Earth, and I suppose the grass and trees help."

"No, I mean…this place. These buildings. It all feels familiar." Katari spotted a group of Toloriuns picnicking nearby. "Even the people seem familiar."

"Hm, interesting. I personally haven't been here in, oh, couple hundred years. Or did I come here for my last birthday…"

"Birthday?"

"Weeell, strictly speaking Time Lords only celebrate a birthday every 25 years. Otherwise it's just redundant. You'd always be attending birthday parties, otherwise. Not a lot of fuss is made, of course, since we have looms and not the kind of birth process that humans have…"

"Right." Katari walked through a small alley that led to a street in between the buildings. "Look, it looks like…a dojo or something." A small, more simplistic building sat in the center of a sort of park. A stream ran through its center, and a fountain greeted Katari and the Doctor at the beginning of the path leading to the building's doors.

"Well, let's have a look-see, shall we?" The Doctor reached out his hand and took Katari's, pulling her along beside him.

The stream separated the sides of the main room, with a small bridge connecting the two wood floors. A woman with maroon hair, who looked to be just around four feet, entered from a small room immediately to their right. "Welcome to the Temple of Tolorupin. Do you seek guidance?"

"Ah, how wonderful. Why, yes, guidance would be brilliant," the Doctor grinned at the woman.

She nodded solemnly at the Doctor and turned to Katari, "And you, also, Katharina?"

"How did you know my name?"

The woman did not answer but simply smiled. "I shall set up a room for each of you."

Within minutes, Katari and the Doctor were led to separate rooms. Katari breathed in quickly as a much stronger feeling of recognition waved over her. The room was small, comfortable for no more than three or four people, but the fabrics and the mirrors that covered each wall made it seem larger. Silken fabrics brushed her shoulders as a different woman with deep violet hair, and closer in height to Katari, though still shorter, entered from a hidden door in the back of the room.

"Welcome, Katharina Ariel. Please, sit." She waved to a small grouping of pillows in the center of the room.

Katari sat, intrigued. "How do you all know who I am?"

The woman smiled, "In due time, Katari." The woman sat across from her, legs crossed at a strange angle. "I am the Lady Lacerta."

"Your name is the same as the constellation."

Lady Lacerta nodded, "The name is a powerful one. On Earth, the year is only 700 B.C. Lacerta will not be named until the seventeenth century, but it is named with the help of divine knowledge. In Latin, lacerta means lizard, though the name began as Chameleon in the ancient tongues."

"The ancient tongues? You mean Latin is descended from ancient tongues?"

"Yes, ones passed down through generations." She studied Katari for a moment, "But that is not why you are here."

"Well, I suppose I'm here because the Doctor thought it would be fun." Katari shrugged.

"It was you that led him to Tolorius. He was merely your transportation. You have questions, many questions." Lady Lacerta was lighting a bowl of fluid that Katari hadn't noticed. It burned a pale yellow, and the room was flooded with a warm, calming smell.

"Yes, I guess so. I need to know about these dreams I'm having, and about my future. I shouldn't be here now, even. How am I still here?" Katari squirmed slightly, adjusting the weight on the sides of her legs as she sat cross-legged.

"There is a time for everyone. There are things still needed of you. Others still need you."

"Others? You mean like the Doctor?"

Lady Lacerta smiled with a knowing twinkle in her eyes, "You are a very smart woman, Katharina."

"So the dreams do have to do with the Doctor? The dreams about Mark have subsided," she willed herself to continue, not wanting to think about Mark, "but they have been replaced with dreams of an unknown planet. Of a different, but familiar man."

"You are not as young as you believe yourself to be, Katharina."

"What does that mean? I've had a past life?" Katari raised an eyebrow.

"This place. It is familiar, yes?"

Katari nodded, slowly, "Yes, but…Did I used to live here? Was I a Toloriun?"

Lady Lacerta smiled again. "You are still a spiritual being, Katharina. You have held on to that."

Katari was silent as she turned and looked at the fabrics and the mirrors more closely. She then glanced down at the bowl and focused on the patterns painted around the outside, "I was you." She looked up at Lady Lacerta with sudden recognition. "I know this room and these things. I was you. You are _me_." She looked at her astounded.

"It is true. You and I are the same soul. Do not worry, it will not harm your timeline, as we are still different people. You have many things yet to come, many things to discover. Your dreams will help you _remember_. Allow them to come when they will. The Doctor will need you and he will come to you when he is ready. Have patience."

Katari was speechless, trying to absorb what she was being told. "So I was you. I am talking to me but thousands of years ago, and there is more to discover?"

"Oh, yes. You are an intricate soul in this universe. In all universes that were, are or will be."

Katari sat, astounded. "Well…that's…odd."


	20. Chapter 20

The Doctor was deep in thought, pondering what had been told to him. Normally he didn't believe in readings or tarot or any such thing, but the Toloriuns were known for it. Their genetic makeup, the way their mitochondrion interacted with everything around them – with elements found on all planets – allowed them to tap in to knowledge not yet discovered.

_You worry about your companion. There is no need. She will discover a deeper knowledge within. She is your protection. _

What did that mean? He always protected those who traveled with him. He couldn't stop now.

His thoughts were interrupted as Katari joined him in the main entrance. She seemed confused, but calm.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," she paused and smiled at him, "I think I will be."

Something was different about the Doctor, but Katari couldn't put her finger on it.

Katari was slicing a mushroom to put in her eggs, lost in thought about what could be wrong with the Doctor. She sliced quickly and accidentally cut her finger. "Oh, damn." Katari sucked on her finger, attempting to stop the blood.

"You're supposed to cut the mushroom, not your finger," the Doctor was walking into the kitchen.

Katari stuck her tongue out at him.

"So…someplace else? I've been meaning to go to the Bermuda Triangle…see what the stories are all about." The Doctor smiled a half smile at Katari.

It had been weeks since she had learned more about herself, her lives, why she existed. The dreams had not ceased, but had, instead, had gotten stronger. She realized now she had been dreaming of the Doctor.

In her dreams, Katari had counted four different bodies for the Doctor so far, including the current one. Some of the time they were in the TARDIS, other times they were on a planet she didn't recognize from any of her visits with the Doctor.

Lately though she had begun remembering foreign words when she awoke. Words that she didn't recognize as a language from the Earth. She hadn't mentioned them to the Doctor yet. After speaking with Lady Lacerta, or well, with herself…she still hadn't quite wrapped her mind around that yet…she had decided that she needed to figure things out on her own for a bit, before taking it to the Doctor. What she remembered may be important to his life, as well as her's.

She was slowly regaining her confidence, pushing Mark into the past behind her. There were still nights where she was back in the warehouse, dreaming of what he did to her. The dreams were always prompted by something that reminded her of him: the particular, cheap aftershave he wore, the brand of whiskey he would buy when they were in college, or a certain of his favorite overly quoted movie lines.

She had been okay after they had saved England from becoming faceless bodies following the Queen's coronation. Nothing in 1950's England had reminded her of him.

But ever since the Black Hole…ever since the creature that had possessed Toby…Her mind was a constant battle of memories. The creature had been inside her head. Telling her she would die, reminding her of the pain from her past. It knew of her past…that means it could know of her future. Katari was meant to protect the Doctor. How could she if she died? Unless she were reborn once more; it would be the only way. Katari continued to push it aside, meditating on the fact that Lady Lacerta had not seemed concerned. _"You are still a spiritual being, Katharina. You have held on to that." _Katari had decided to focus on that, to try to tap in to her abilities further, and put more of the puzzle together.

The Doctor seemed more affected by it, however. He had taken to watching her more closely during their adventures as if expecting something to leap out and grab her at any time.

She was pondering this when he asked her something that startled her.

"How about a vacation?"

Katari stared at him in awe, not saying anything. The last time he had taken her anywhere for fun was when they saw _Rent_, and now she suspected that was because he had grown a guilty conscious over not telling her about Bad Wolf. So what was the reason behind this?

"Okay…sure. Any reason why?"

The Doctor looked up from where he was fiddling with some knobs on the console. "I have to have a reason?"

"No, not really, but typically we go places because they have excellent banana daiquiris or there is some fascinating cultural ritual or a significant historical event." Katari was sitting in the captain's chair, reading a book, but now she stood and made her way toward the Doctor as she spoke. "We never go places for 'vacation.'"

"Well what about when we saw _Rent_?" He brought it up without thinking, then closed his mouth quickly, not wanting to remind her of Mark.

Her eyes softened, "Doctor, it's okay. I am coping. Even if I do still have nightmares about it, I must face them. Otherwise it will grow more dangerous with time."

The Doctor nodded, "I just don't like talking about it unnecessarily." He paused and then returned to the idea of vacation, "I just thought maybe you'd like to…well, for lack of a better term…sightsee. Pick a place, relax there."

"You never want to relax." Katari cocked her head slightly, "Does this have anything to do with the way you've been acting lately? Acting as if I'll break if there is the slightest bit of danger?"

The Doctor cleared his throat and busied himself with the TARDIS controls again. "It would just be nice to have a break from danger."

"I will die, Doctor."

He stopped abruptly and turned to face her, "Whatever that creature said-"

"I am not talking about that." She studied his eyes as she spoke, looking for the dark swirl that she knew so well, "I am meant to die. It will happen. You are not meant to protect me; I am meant to protect you."

"I protect anyone who comes with me. I have more experience with all of this," he waved his hand as if gesturing to something in particular. "I will not sit back and watch you die." _I care too much about you to let that happen._ He swallowed his thoughts, his reasons. There wasn't any point in making those thoughts known if it ended with him sacrificing himself for her.

"Doctor, I accepted death a long time ago," Katari's voice was quiet and somber, her eyes sparkling with sadness.

"Weeell….yes, it is inevitable for humans. But you're only twenty-seven. You have years and years ahead of you. I am an old man, however."

Katari's expression remained the same, "Rose didn't tell you." It wasn't a question, but rather, a statement.

The Doctor's voice was suddenly much quieter, "Tell me what?"

"Doctor, I have leukemia. I'm dying."

The Doctor visibly stumbled backward, "But that's impossible."

Katari smiled sadly, "Two years ago they told me I had six months to live. I've proven them wrong thus far, but…" she drifted off and swept her hand away from her as if beckoning towards the future. "Rose wanted to give me the gift of exploration with you while she attended school."

He was shaking his head and mumbling, half to her and half to himself it seemed, "No, that's… something doesn't add up." He began pacing around sporadically. "It would have found it. It would have flagged it, but it didn- No! No! That's it!" The Doctor looked at her wildly before fleeing the console room.

Katari ran after him, "Doctor! What are you going on about!"

"The medical scans! It would've shown up." He skidded into the med bay and began rapidly keying in information, "They were clear!"

Katari sucked her breath in, hopeful, then shook her head, "Maybe it's because you weren't looking for it."

"The TARDIS did a complete scan. She would've found everything – cavities, scars, evidence of previous bone breaks, the slightest cut or illness," the Doctor squinted at some data. "Ah-ha! There! There!" He jabbed at the screen. "Nothing! Gone!"

Katari's heart skipped, and her voice cracked and came out as a whisper, "How is that possible?"

The Doctor stared over at her, his eyes flipping around as he processed his thoughts. Suddenly he stopped and realization flashed across his face, "Katari! How long did it take for your back to heal?"

Katari shrugged, "I don't know…uh, a week? I thought you had done something to make it heal faster."

"No, no, that was all you. Your body healed itself!" The Doctor eyed her with wonder. "Might I see your back?"

"Yeah, sure…" Katari nodded slowly and turned, lifted the back of her shirt up to her neck and held it there.

"Brilliant…" the Doctor whispered, then exclaimed, "Brilliant! And what about your finger, where you cut it on the knife this morning?" He bounced around her and lifted her hand, "Gone! Not even a scratch!"

Katari held her finger up and examined it, then examined her other fingers to make sure she had correctly remembered which finger had been cut. "H…how?"

"Your back has only one scar remaining, and that is almost entirely gone. I think when you absorbed the vortex it altered your body processes so you heal at extraordinary rates. How have you been feeling lately?"

"Well, much better, actually. I thought it was a placebo effect. Traveling, being distracted, having some hope after speaking with Lady Lacerta."

"So your medicine isn't even making you sick?"

Katari shook her head slowly, "I don't take any medicine. I stopped taking it shortly after we started traveling. I thought it would be best to fully enjoy what I could without the medicines' side effects." She absorbed the information for a moment, "Does that mean…I'm immortal?"

"Weeell, I don't know about immortal. You didn't directly channel that energy into yourself, but rather through yourself. Most likely you'll outlive other humans by a few hundred years or so, maybe longer, and your aging process will be greatly slowed…"

She stood dazed, her mind racing through the implications. "I'm…not…dying. I'm not dying!' She lit up and smiled brightly at the Doctor, a tear streaming down her cheek.

"Quite the opposite, Katharina!" The Doctor's eyes sparkled as she threw herself into his arms and hugged him as if he had healed her.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Again, some of the quotes from the actual show have been altered slightly (and/or added, subtracted) to better represent Katari's character. This goes through "Fear Her" for spoilers sake... **

"So she's going to remain a face on a slab of concrete forever?" Katari was curled up in her favorite chair in the library.

"Weeell, I suppose you could say that, yes."

"That would suck."

"But she's alive."

"Yeah, but…constantly being dependent upon others, never being able to enjoy food, since there's nowhere for it to go…and well, sex is totally out…" Katari shook her head with a raise of an eyebrow.

"And is that _so_ bad? Her brain is still in use. She's still thinking," the Doctor put down the papers he was examining.

"Well…it's _sex_," Katari was flipping through a magazine she had picked up after they had helped Elton. The Doctor blinked at her a few times, his mouth slightly agape. "Oh, come on, don't tell me Time Lords never had sex."

The Doctor shrugged, "It's not like we couldn't, but…well, we didn't. Had looms for procreation. And when we had our intelligence, what's the point of lust?"

Katari was shaking her head at him from over her magazine, "You're clearly doing it wrong."

His expression was priceless as his mouth opened in awe and his eyes widened, "I am very capable, thank you very much."

Katari stood from the chair, holding her page in her magazine with her thumb, "Sure, whatever you say, Doc."

He stared after her for a moment, stuttering before he could reply, "Don't call me Doc!"

Her laughter echoed from down the hall as she made her way to her bedroom.

The Doctor sat back in his chair and sighed, "I am going to be so fat that the TARDIS will drop me off and leave me somewhere so she won't have to carry my weight around." He placed his napkin over the dish that had been wiped clean of its chicken pot pie.

With a snort Katari stood and stretched, "I doubt that. If you were that fat you wouldn't make it back to the TARDIS at all, because you wouldn't be able to run from the enemies that you never think exist."

"I suppose there's validity in th- hey, I do too acknowledge the existence of said enemies. I just never plan for it, that's all." He looked at her with indignation as he stood to clear the dishes from the table.

"So this morning when you said…oh, what was it..." Katari tapped her chin as if thinking, "Ah, yes…and I quote, 'Oh everyone on this planet is _so friendly_, we won't have _any problems_ _here_,' you meant the opposite?"

"Today is Opposite Day." His reply was short as he piled her plate onto his.

"So it's _not _Opposite Day," she smirked at him.

He opened his mouth to reply and then narrowed his eyes at her, "Don't you have something to do?"

Laughing, Katari headed for the door, "I suppose I could watch some old movies before bed." Then quietly she muttered, "Or plot the takeover of the TARDIS…whichever…"

"That's nic- wait, what?" The Doctor turned rapidly toward the door, plates clinking in his hand, but Katari was already gone, laughing her way through the halls. The Doctor mumbled to himself, "Why is it she always leaves the room laughing at me?"

_The Doctor is gone. The Doctor is gone._ It was all Katari could think as she ran for Chloe's house. Her pounding was frantic, though she knew getting to Chloe any faster would not help the Doctor.

Trish opened the door, and without a word, Katari raced past her, ignoring her calls that Chloe had no other pencils.

Chloe immediately began yelling at her in the voice of the Isolus to leave her alone, but Katari shook her head and pointed at the drawing, "Bring him back, now."

Chloe refused.

Don't you realize what you've done? He was the only one who could help you, now bring him back!

Chloe yelled again, "Leave me alone! I love Chloe Webber!"

Katari saw the longing in her eyes, the loneliness that reflected out at her from the Doctor's eyes each day, and her voice softened, "I know." She nodded slightly, "I know." She looked down at the paper in her hands, "Doctor, if you can hear me, I'm gonna get you out of there. I'll find the pod." With an inward sigh, she looked back to Trish, "Don't leave her alone, no matter what."

With the pod in hand, Katari swung the axe at Chloe's bedroom door. _Just one of these days I will enjoy something without issue. Just one._ She swung again. _But for now…to save the Doctor. _

The hole in the door became large enough to fit her hand through. Knocking the chair out of the way, she and Trish hurried in, "Chloe!"

Chloe was coloring in the land on her picture of the Earth, as her father's voice came from the closet.

"I've gotta stop her," Katari muttered. She stepped forward, but promptly stepped backward at the violent shaking of the closet door.

"If you stop Chloe Webber, I will let him out. We will let him out together. I cannot be alone. It's not fair."

Katari pulled the pod from her pocket, "Look, I have your pod."

"The pod is dead."

"It-it only needs heat."

"It needs more than heat."

"What, then?" Katari was getting desperate.

Kel, the man from the Council, had come in now, and pointed at the pictures, "I'm not being funny or nothing, but that picture just moved." He pointed to the picture of the Doctor and the TARDIS, "And that one!"

Katari studied the picture of the Doctor, who was now pointing to the Olympic torch, "She didn't draw that. He did. But it needs more than heat, Doctor."

The commentator on the television spoke, "It's much more than a torch now, it's a beacon. It's a beacon of hope and fortitude and courage. And it's a beacon of love."

Katari blinked at it and then looked back at the picture, "You have such good timing."

Katari jumped joyously as the pod slipped into the torch, "Yes!" With a giggle she hugged Kel.

"You did it!" He cheered, then paused, "What was it you did?"

Suddenly, children reappeared and ran towards their parents. Katari smiled brightly as she watched their reunions, but then her smile faded a bit, "Doctor…" She turned in the direction in which the TARDIS had been parked.

She was interrupted by an elderly lady thanking her before her thoughts turned to the Doctor once more. "Where is he? He should be here?" Her eyes scanned the street, "All the drawings have come to life." With a sudden realization, Katari's eyes flew to Chloe's bedroom window, "That means all of them. Oh, no." She ran toward the house as a red glow filled the window.

The door was locked though, and Trish yelled that they were trapped. Katari's mind raced. _What would the Doctor do, how would he stop this…The Doctor said this Dad was one that lived in her nightmares..._ She could hear Trish and Chloe pleading inside the door. _But nightmares aren't real…so it's completely created by the Isolus. _

She called suddenly, "Chloe, listen to me. It isn't real like the others. It's just energy left over by the Isolus, but you can get rid of it—"

Trish's yelling interrupted Katari, but she continued on, "It's because you're scared that he's real! But you can get shot of him, Chloe!" She heard Chloe plead for her mom, "You can do it, Chloe!"

Katari paused as she heard Chloe repeating over and over that she couldn't do it. _How do you stop a nightmare…_ A tune floated through her head, one that had been stuck there all day, "Sing again! Chloe, sing!"

Chloe began to sing, and was soon joined by Trish. Within seconds Katari heard them laughing and then let out her own sigh of relief. Her relief was short lived, however, when she realized the Doctor was still missing. Kel found her, and gave her a pitying look, "Maybe he's gone somewhere."

Katari had barely heard him speak, but spoke aloud, half to him, half to herself, "Who's going to hold his hand now?"

Kel led her back into Trish's house as the commentator remarked with amazement at the return of the stadium of people.

"Eighty thousand people…So where's the Doctor?" Katari blinked back tears, "I need him."

They all watched as the torch bearer collapsed, and a random man picked it up.

Katari's heart jumped into her throat, "Doctor…"


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: I completed a bit of research in attempts to fill in some gaps about Time Lord sexuality, but it seems the canon is a bit mixed, and indecisive. So I have attempting to rectify the mix and make some sense of it, with some logical possibilities. Please forgive me if you have believed otherwise. (On a second note, I give complete credit to Rowling for the device the Doctor has in this chapter... I altered it slightly for purposes of the Whovian Universe, but technically it was originally her idea, thus I do not own it, ditto, ditto, you know the drill).  
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(The bed creaked in annoyance as Katari turned on her other side for probably the tenth time. It felt like hours since she had attempted to go to sleep, even if it had only been about one hour according to the clock she kept in her room, despite the Doctor's insistence that time was relative within the TARDIS. With a sigh she sat up and pondered whether to read or get some tea.

The TARDIS hummed at her, as if making a suggestion. "Does that hum mean I should get tea?" The TARDIS hummed again. "Okay, I'll get some tea." She found her Kermit slippers next to her bed and headed for the kitchen.

"I love it when you do that," Katari spoke upward as she stepped out her door and was greeted by the kitchen. The TARDIS hummed appreciatively.

The Doctor sat in the kitchen, sipping a cup of tea and studying some sort of instrument that was whirling and buzzing.

"Oh, hi, Doctor." Katari crossed her arms over her chest, feeling awkward in front of the Doctor in only a tank top and boxers.

He looked up from the whirling mechanism, "You're up later than usual."

She shrugged, "Couldn't sleep. Wanted some tea."

He nodded, "Here, I made some extra." He poured her a cup from the kettle that sat on the table.

"Thanks," she sat in the seat across from him and stirred in some sugar. "What's that?" She looked pointedly at the now-beeping instrument.

"Hm? Oh, this was a gag gift from an old friend. Supposedly it goes off when major universe-threatening events happen, such as dark matter expanding, or a universal rift splitting open. It's centuries old apparently; it's probably broken." He smacked it. "He probably just got it in some off-world joke shop." The mechanism vibrated on the table, moving precariously toward the edge. The Doctor pointed his screwdriver at it and within seconds, the vibrating and beeping halted.

Katari studied the ominous machine, "Are you sure it's broken? That doesn't sound so farfetched…"

He shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not."

"Okay, that's…a good attitude." She sipped her tea. "Doctor…"

"Yes?" He had chucked the now-silent metal into the trash bin.

"Earlier today…you said…" she paused, hesitant to ask, "you said you had been a father once."

His hand ran suddenly through his hair as he thought to himself. With a sigh he responded, "Yes, I was. And a grandfather and great-grandfather."

"But I thought you said Time Lords didn't procreate?"

"Technically, no. But, it is possible. When we were produced with a Loom, everyone produced from the same Loom was a cousin. I did have a son and a daughter. And a granddaughter, Susan, and great-grandson, Alex."

"So you made the choice to have a family traditionally?"

"It's complicated, Katari," he looked at her wearily.

"I'm wide awake."

He smiled at her sadly, and stood, "Try to get some sleep, okay?"

"Doctor," Katari called after his retreating body, but sighed as he disappeared into the hall. Sipping the last of her tea, she muttered, "Why do you insist on staying a mystery?"

Just outside the kitchen door, the Doctor leaned against the wall, his shoulders sagging as he heard her comment. Quietly, he walked back towards his bedroom. _Because I will lose you. And then it will be easier for both of us. _


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Couple of things here: 1) This is a long chapter, yes. But, 2) It's a lot of fluff. Fun fluff. But fluff nonetheless. Also, I know that Katari had some drinking issues in college as mentioned in a previous chapter, and yes I know she drinks in this chapter and that's bad, but I promise there will be some resolution later. :) Also, please be aware there are curse words and alcohol use in this chapter. You know what to do.  
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According to the calendar that Katari used to keep track of what day it would have been, had she remained on Earth in her time, it was nearing Halloween. Which meant she had a lot to do.

With a pad of paper in hand, she wandered down the corridor, jotting a list of things she needed. Lost in thought, she turned a corner and ran into the Doctor's chest.

"Oh, sorry, Doctor," she stepped back, startled.

"Quite alright. What do you have there?" He motioned to her paper.

"Oh, just making a list."

"And checking it twice?" He teased.

She scowled at him, "It's Halloween, not Christmas. And I'm making a list for Samhain. It's the Wiccan New Year ritual."

He began to reply, but she interrupted, "Oh! That reminds me!" Katari smiled at him coyly.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, "What's that look for?"

"Well, see, I was chatting with a friend the other night and…well, they always have an annual Halloween party, and it _is _my favorite holiday…" She drifted off and batted her eyelashes at him.

"You want to go to a Halloween party? I suppose I can manage that. I've been meaning to work on a couple of things around the TARDIS…" he glanced around the console room as if making a mental checklist.

"See, that's the thing…" Katari scuffed her right foot, as if playing up that she was pretending to be innocent, "My friends know that I'm traveling…and they know I'm traveling _with_ someone…so it would look odd if I showed up _alone…_"

"Oh, I don't think I'm the right person to go to a Halloween party…" the Doctor shook his head, and started to head for the door to the hall.

Katari stepped in front of him, "But you would be perfect! And it'd be easy to find a costume in your endless wardrobe!"

"Why couldn't I wear this?" He motioned to his usual pinstripe suit.

"Costumes are required."

"Well that doesn't seem fair."

"Please, Doctor," Katari pleaded, her eyes large and desperate. "Pleeeeaaaaase."

Shoulders slumped, he nodded, mumbling, "Never look at the eyes…must remember to never look at the eyes…" With that, he headed for the wardrobe to pick out a costume.

"So…where is this party again?" The Doctor was flipping some dials.

"Williamsburg, Virginia, my time, 517 W. Jefferson St," Katari was sorting through a box of supplies, checking off items on her Samhain list. "But not on Halloween night. The party is on the 27th, so it's a Saturday."

He flipped a lever and the TARDIS began its short journey.

"Now I shall go get dressed," Katari hopped off the captain's chair with her box and headed for the wardrobe.

The Doctor had settled for his favorite samurai outfit, though opted to take a fake sword instead of the real one that was sitting on the top shelf. He straightened his armor and headed for the console room to wait for Katari.

"Nice armor," Katari chuckled as she spotted the backside of his costume as she entered the room.

The Doctor turned to give her a detailing on the intricacies of the armor, but instead, did a double take at her costume and gaped.

Katari smirked as his expression, "Do you like?" She was wearing a short, blue, pinstripe skirt with matching fitted blouse that cut low into her cleavage. Over top of it she wore a flowing brown trench coat. In her hand she had a sonic screwdriver that seemed to be made of foil, and she wore blue high heels.

"Is that- are you-" he stuttered, "Who are you supposed to be!"

She laughed loudly, "Why, you, of course." She spun for effect. "Granted, a female version of your clothing, but well, you get the drift."

"I-I-" the Doctor continued to stare, "I don't know that I can ever wear that outfit again."

"Well it's not like you're going to wear a short skirt and low cut blouse."

He shook his head in disbelief, still staring.

"You keep trying to think of something to say; we have a party to attend," Katari chuckled at him, grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the front door.

The house was already filled with people in eccentric costumes; one tall man dressed as an Oompa Loompa, a busty woman dressed as Abe Lincoln, a petite blonde wearing a zombie nurse costume, and a heavyset man in drag.

"Interesting costumes," the Doctor whispered to Katari.

"Did I mention I have strange and exciting friends?"

"Considering you're traveling with me, that's not hard to believe," he winked at her and pulled back slightly as a brunette woman of average build, wearing a Sherlock Holmes costume called out to Katari and rushed forward to hug her.

"I can't believe you actually made it! You've been gone so much lately!" The woman tucked her magnifying glass into a coat pocket and flung her arms around Katari.

"Well, traveling has been good for me."

"Even if you did have to quit your job for it. Unless you quit for _other_ reasons.." the woman's voice lowered and she shot Katari a knowing look.

"Oh, no…I'm actually a lot better." Katari smiled and nodded as if trying to reassure her friend. "I promise. Total remission."

The woman squealed, "That's fantastic! I'm so glad!" She hugged Katari again and then glanced up, noticing the Doctor for the first time. "Oh, you must be Katari's traveling friend," she shot Katari a quick look and then held her hand out to the Doctor, "I'm Robyn."

"Nice to meet you Robyn, I'm-"

"This is John." Katari interrupted him, "John Smith."

"Oh, wow, John Smith has returned to the area. I'm afraid you missed Jamestown by a few miles." Robyn chuckled at her joke.

"Ah, yes…I forgot about that…" Katari muttered, glaring towards the Doctor who shrugged apologetically.

"Well, come on in. You know your way around." Robyn nodded to the interior of the house, then was pulled away by a man in a turtle costume.

Katari pulled the Doctor in with her, "Come on, I'll introduce to more of my friends, _John_."

"Well I'm sorry. It's an established alias. You could have just gone with Doctor." He rolled his eyes.

"Oh, that would've been interesting. I might as well have just said, 'Hey, Robyn, this is the Oncoming Storm. He's a Time Lord, which is an alien race that is no longer in existence, but when they were around they could travel through time and space and regenerate multiple times so that they could live pretty much forever.'" Katari narrowed her eyes at him, her voice just above a hiss.

"A bit lengthy, really, but I'm sure it would be a great icebreaker."

"I hate you."

"No you don't."

She grunted in return and turned to pour some rum into a cup. "What would you like?"

"Oh, I don't drink."

Katari stared at him. "Seriously?"

"Why is that hard to believe?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow.

"I dunno…900 years old…I would've thought you'd at least tried it."

"Oh, I never said I hadn't tried it."

Katari sighed and finished mixing a couple of other liquids together. "Here, take this."

"I said I didn't drink."

"It's Coke." Katari sipped at her own drink.

"Oh, okay," he took a sip and coughed. "That doesn't taste like Coke."

"I never said that was the only thing in the cup." Katari grinned and was promptly interrupted by the Oompa Loompa, who swooped in to hug her.

"And where have _you_ been?" He smiled at Katari.

"Traveling. Seeing the world." Katari returned the smile and then turned to the Doctor, "This is my friend John. John, this is Alex."

"Nice to meet you, John," Alex reached how and shook the Doctor's hand. "Nice costume. Very authentic looking."

"Weeell, technically I got it on a trip to Japan just before the end of the 12th cen-" He paused as he saw the look on Katari's face, "I mean, I went to a Museum about the 12th century in Japan, and they had this in the gift shop. It's meant to be as realistic as possible." The Doctor awkwardly sipped his drink, grimacing at the taste.

"It's amazing." He turned back to Katari, "Wanna play a game of Beer Pong with me later? For old times' sake?"

She laughed, "Sure, Alex. Are Cynthia and Brian here? We need to keep up our rep."

"I saw them earlier. I'm sure they're floating around somewhere."

"Great, I'll catch up with you later then."

The Doctor pulled up next to Katari as Alex disappeared into another room, "What's Beer Pong?"

Katari just grinned.

A cheer went up around them as Katari and Alex did a celebratory booty-bump. "Three games in a row!" Katari thrust her hands in the air. "Who's next!"

A short, overweight man wearing a Jedi costume stood from a couch. "It's so on, Katari."

"Ah! Caleb!" Katari bounded over to him and threw her arms around him, kissing him on the cheek.

"Who's your partner?" Alex was now munching on his prop, a giant Willy Wonka bar.

"I'll play."

Katari spun around to see the Doctor stepping forward.

"But, Do- John, you've never played before."

"Aim for the cup and throw. Can't be that hard. Especially if you calculate the relative distance and the trajectory needed taking in to account alcohol consumed and the impairment factor, plus any particular wind such as the heat coming from the air vent in that direction, and the air flowing in from the window that was just opened in that direction." He pointed. "Why exactly is a window open when there's heat on?"

Katari shrugged, "They probably thought it would be cold out, but with Virginia weather you never know. Someone was most likely hot with the crowd so they opened a window."

"Before we get started…" Alex had vanished and suddenly reappeared with a bottle and some small glasses. "A toast."

"You brought Tequila?" Katari eyed the bottle.

"Of course!" Alex laughed. "At least it's not cheap Tequila." He poured out four shots, leaving three of them on the beer pong table for the others.

Katari carefully picked up her's, and then handed one to the Doctor. "Think you can handle this?"

"Please, Katharina, I can handle most anything," The Doctor smirked at her and lifted the shot glass. Clinking his glass against the others in a toast, he downed the liquid and promptly sputtered and coughed.

Katari was laughing as she handed him a can of Sprite. "Here, have a chaser."

He chugged from the can and squished some of the liquid around his mouth. Swallowing, he held the can out to Katari.

"Oh, no thanks, chasers are for pussies." She grinned at him evilly.

He stuck his tongue out at her and tried to saunter haughtily to the other side of the table, but only succeeded in running into the side of the table before stumbling over to his position.

"How are you doing that!" Katari screeched at the Doctor, who had just landed his third shot in a row.

"It's easy if you know the math – you just take the distance, and then-"

Katari cut him off, "Okay, good, good. My turn now." She squinted her eyes and grasped the ping pong ball lightly. It glided effortlessly into one of the cups, making a slight splash on the way in.

Alex cheered and then commented dryly after missing his shot, "I think at this point it's really just John and Katari playing."

Each side had one cup remaining now. The Doctor was already focused on his next shot. Katari leaned over suddenly, her chest exposed at the steep angle. The Doctor's shot missed by inches and the ball bounced off the table and underneath a chair.

Alex and Katari high fived and cheered as the Doctor coughed awkwardly to hide his embarrassment.

Katari sipped at a beer as she contemplated her move. Alex tossed his ping pong ball lightly, but it bounced off the cup and rolled into the corner behind the door. Swallowing a small chug of her drink, Katari set the bottle down on the table and stood slightly on her toes. Dropping the ball into her cup of water and dunking it a few times, she lifted it, still dripping, and moved the ball through the air a couple of times as if studying the arc. With a hopeful toss, she let the ball loose, aimed further up the table then the Doctor was expecting. The ball bounced once and landed with a satisfying plop in the cup.

Katari and Alex jumped up in celebration and Katari chugged some more of the beer. "Ha! I totally beat you at something!" She pointed excitedly at the Doctor.

He grumbled, "Sure, sure. Real triumph…beer pong."

She grinned at his insistence that he didn't care, and continued to do a celebration dance with Alex.

The Doctor had lost Katari. She had been there one minute, talking to her friend…what was her name? Larissa? Marissa? Yes, Marissa, that was it. He was in the middle of a lively conversation with her friend Zach about the 'hypothetical' restraints of time travel when he turned around and she had vanished.

Zach was busy talking about the philosophical concerns of circular actions when the Doctor interrupted him, "Excuse me, Zach, I seem to have lost my…" he searched for a word, "um…date." He blanched at the word, but Zach seemed to accept it.

"I think she's on the back porch." Zach nodded toward the French doors.

"Thank you." The Doctor stood and glided through a small gathering of people who were playing Xbox 360 and drinking from Solo cups. The French doors were cracked for air; a small light glowed on the side of the house, but the Doctor only saw what appeared to be the Harry Potter trio smoking cigarettes. He ventured out anyway to see if there were others.

"Excuse me, have you seen Katari?" He approached the girl dressed as Hermione.

"Yeah she's over by the firepit." She pointed toward a waning fire in the middle of the backyard and stuck her cigarette back to her lips.

"Thank you, very much. Lovely costume, by the way," he eyed the too-short skirt and the sweater that looked as if it may burst at any moment and smiled politely.

"Thanks!" She grinned and winked at him.

A few dead leaves crunched under his samurai boots with a satisfying crackle. The air had only a slight chill, but the Doctor could feel the heat radiating from the chair and couch encircled fire. Two unknown costume-and-jacket clad party-goers were talking and laughing on the side facing away from the house. Two others were on the opposite side, obstructed by the small fire as they made out on a couch.

"Well where did she _get _to?" The Doctor scanned the backyard, wondering if she had gone for a walk to sober up. He heard a soft moan and turned. _That sounded like…_ He realized that brown coat on the girl making out looked very familiar. As did the bright green and orange costumed man next to her. "Oh." He turned abruptly, trying to ignore the stabbing feeling he felt. He began to walk back to the TARDIS, bypassing the house entirely, but then realized he shouldn't leave her here alone. Even if she was with friends, she had been drinking. She had been drinking _a lot_.

And so he sat on the front porch and waited, trying to forget the image that played over and over in his head.

**Reviews? Eh? Eh?**


	24. Chapter 24

Katari woke the next morning feeling as though she could conquer the world. "Hmm…that's new. No hangover." She sat up slowly as if a pounding headache would attack her once she was vertical. Still nothing. "Perhaps another side effect of Bad Wolf. Awesomesauce…" She grinned to herself and hopped out of the bed.

Freshly showered and in her favorite jeans and college hoodie she found the Doctor buried under the TARDIS console.

_Is there anywhere else that man _ever _goes?_ She chuckled to herself, "Morning, Doctor."

She heard his head thud against the underside of the console.

"Sorry." She apologized and hid her grin behind her hand.

He scooted out from underneath the console and nodded lightly toward her, "Morning."

"Hey. How was the rest of your night? Did you enjoy talking to my friends? A lot of them can be really geeky, so I figured you'd get along okay…" She plopped down into the captain's chair and propped her feet onto the console.

"Yes, Zach was interest-" he glanced over at her, "Would you get your feet off my console."

With a roll of her eyes she pulled her feet down and turned sideways in the chair so she could dangle them over the side.

"So where did you disappear to last night? You were gone for a good hour…" He tried to sound casual.

"Oh, Alex and I went out by the firepit to catch up." Her lie seemed so casual, so unrehearsed, "He and I have been friends for years. I probably spent more time at his house than at my own growing up."

"Ah, well, it's good to…_catch up_ with friends." He cleared his throat and pretended to tinker with some wires that were stuck out of the underbelly of the console.

"Are you alright, Doctor?"

"Yes, yes, why wouldn't I be?"

She studied him for a moment, watching his repetitive movements as he fiddled with the wires, tugging on them and tying and untying them. "You know where I was, don't you?"

"It's not actually any of my business, really. I just wish you had had some sense. Even being drunk isn't an excuse…considering…" he drifted off thinking back to Mark.

Katari's expression turned cold, "First of all, _Doctor_, I have known Alex far longer than I have known you. Second of all, no, it isn't any of your business. I doubt that it will _ever_ be your business. And third of all, did you ever stop to think for just five seconds that maybe, _maybe_ I was looking for some comfort last night?" She swung her legs to the front of the chair with such force the chair rocked momentarily. Within moments she was out of the chair and through the door.

The Doctor stood in awe, trying to figure out what had just happened. "How did that get turned around on _me_?"

The TARDIS zapped his fingers with the wires each time he attempted to put them back in their proper position under the console, until he finally gave up and sought out Katari. From her room he could hear what sounded like heavy metal. "I wouldn't have pictured her as a heavy metal fan…" He shrugged and hesitated momentarily before knocking quietly on the door. He noticed the music had been turned down to a quiet hum and heard Katari muttering to the TARDIS about it.

"Katharina…" The Doctor called through her door.

The door unlocked and he heard footsteps retreating. He took that as permission to enter. "How is it I always find myself on the other end of a locked door?" He chuckled nervously, but Katari's expression remained the same. "So…last night…"

She sat, staring at him from her reading chair.

"I, um, suppose I had no right to get upset with your actions. It was entirely your decision and I have no bearing upon it." He shifted from one foot to another, running his hand through his hair.

"Thank you." Katari's voice was a whisper.

"So…there was something that upset you? Some reason you'd need comforting?"

Katari pulled a blanket over her, taking comfort in its soft warmth as she held to it tightly. "It didn't hit me until last night."

"What…what didn't hit you?"

Her eyes were shining with tears as she looked back up at him, "They're all going to be gone. All of them. Alex and Robyn and Brian and Cynthia and…" she broke off and cleared her throat of the sob that was rising up. "I will be alive and well and… they'll be long dead. They will grow old without me. Within fifteen years they will all look older and I won't…" She sniffled, "I won't be able to see them anymore. Not without them knowing."

The Doctor sighed inwardly. He had wondered when she would realize this. He moved closer to her chair and sat on the arm next to her. "I know." He laid a hand on the shoulder opposite him and pulled her in slightly, "It won't be easy. But you have now. You can spend all of now with them. I would like to tell you it gets easier with time, but…I can't."

"I've never considered living without my friends. They're everything." Katari was whispering. She had her head down, studying each tear as they splashed onto her hands. "Is there-" she looked up suddenly at the Doctor, "Is there any way to…reverse it…"

The Doctor held her eyes with his own, "No. The Time Vortex has manipulated your cells. I have no way of altering your cells without potentially damaging them. You would end up sicker than you were before."

A tear cascaded from her eye, "So it's either die even faster, or die alone." Her eyes closed as more tears slid down her cheeks.

"Katharina…" The Doctor hesitated for a moment. It would change everything. "How long do you want to stay with me?"

She wiped her tears from her cheeks, and gazed up at the Doctor, studying his features and his eyes. "As long as you'll have me."

He smiled slightly, crinkles forming at the edges of his eyes. "Well, alright then."


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: Please be aware of the M rating in this chapter. :) Have fun.**

The Doctor had surprised her. He actually took her on vacation.

She had woken up and they had already landed. "Strange…I can usually hear when we land. I must have been sleeping hard."

The Doctor had grinned at her, "Well, stop pondering it. Go pack a bag!"

"We're in the Bahamas? You mean…_Earth_ Bahamas?" Katari looked around the landscape, stunned. "It's not some Bahama-like planet that may have some terrifying volcano or whirlpool or something?"

"Why is it always assumed that we'll end up in danger?"

"Because we always do." Katari stuck her tongue at him, then looked back at the landscape. "Does that mean we get to stay in…" she paused dramatically, "a _hotel_?"

He wagged his eyebrows at her, gesturing to a small bag he had with him. "Ready?" He held out his hand.

"Hell yeah!" She grabbed his hand and made for the hotels.

The Doctor stopped in front of a quaint hotel that fit with the landscape, as if it had previously been a small village turned into a hotel. The desk clerk greeted them happily, "May I help you?"

"Yes, I would like two suites, please. Ocean-view."

The clerk typed a few things into his computer and nodded, "We have two of our finest available. How long do you plan on staying?"

"Oh, I dunno," he glanced over at Katari who shrugged, "Let's say three nights for now, and then we could always extend it if needed."

Katari began to look around the lobby as the Doctor gave the clerk John Smith's information. There were a few sitting areas with brightly colored, floral chairs and couches. The furniture was a deep mahogany, and it all looked like it had been hand-carved. A set of French doors led on to a balcony that had a gorgeous view of the ocean and a beach that curved ever so slightly before curving back the opposite direction and disappearing.

The Doctor was by her side suddenly. "It's gorgeous, isn't it?"

She nodded and sighed with contentment then turned and grinned, "Well let's go to our rooms!"

Her bedroom was open and airy. A small balcony with a padded loveseat faced the ocean, a small rod-iron table next to it. The floor was the same deep mahogany as in the lobby, but it seem smoother and more polished. A queen sized bed stood against the wall covered in a comforter of a similar bright floral pattern as the furniture from downstairs. Long white drapes brushed the floor, pulled to each side so the balcony and view were easy to see.

Katari lay on the center of the bed, reveling in the softness of the bed which seemed to devour her body. With a giggle she launched herself from the bed and flung her suitcase open, digging for her bathing suit.

There was a knock at his door, followed by several more knocks, and then a rhythmic knock. He opened the door and chuckled at a slightly bouncing Katari, clad in a cover-up dress, sunglasses and sandals, with a tote bag thrown over her shoulder. "Come on! Let's go to the beach!" Her smile was bright and contagious.

He grinned back and made a move to leave the room.

"Wait, aren't you going to change?" Katari gestured to his suit.

The Doctor glanced down at his outfit, "Oh, I- I'm not a big…beach-y…kind of Time Lord. Strictly speaking…"

Katari shoved him back into the room, "You just don't want me to see you in a bathing suit… your white, hairy legs. They're not so bad." She shook her head at him.

"Wait, how do you know what my legs look like?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Really, Doctor, how do you think you got into those pajamas at Jackie's?" Katari was rifling through the small bag he had brought, looking for a swim suit.

The Doctor gaped at her and stuttered, "I-I, well I assumed I had done it in a moment of clarity, or well, a moment of control without remembering…" He paused and watched her search the small bag as she wondered how it had so much contained in a small space. "Do you mean…you…" He cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair, "You…"

Katari snorted, looking up momentarily, "Don't worry, I didn't take advantage of you." She held a bright blue swimsuit up triumphantly, "A-ha!"

"Hmm…I don't remember putting those in there…" The Doctor raised an eyebrow at the swim trunks.

"Who cares how they got there, just put them on." Katari chucked the trunks at him.

The Doctor had still insisted on putting on a hideous Hawaiian shirt, claiming that even in the Bahamas, people enjoyed the Hawaiian shirt.

As they stepped on to the beach, Katari shot the Doctor a shocked expression, "What's that?"

"What? What's what?" The Doctor turned his head violently each direction.

Katari smiled and closed her eyes, "It's peace. No monsters, no timey wimey things that need to be fixed. Just…peace."

She opened her eyes to find the Doctor glaring at her. "Just go and pick a place to put your towel." He shook his head at her, stomping off toward the beach as she strolled behind, laughing loudly.

Katari and the Doctor were relaxing on the beach, the Doctor enthralled in some book he'd brought with him, and Katari merely enjoying the sound of the waves and the warmth of the sun.

"It's wonderful isn't it?" She peered over at the Doctor from overtop her sunglasses.

He glanced up from his book. "Yes, I have always loved the sound of the waves."

"It reminds me of this particular ocean. But the waves…the waves would crest pink." She watched the ocean with a glazed expression as if remembering. "And from a distance the ocean appeared silver. The sand…it was this gold, so soft, so fine." Katari looked up suddenly at the Doctor. "I don't know where that memory is from."

The Doctor was staring at her in wonder. "An ocean that appeared silver?" His eyes were wide, studying her and thinking simultaneously. "Anything else?"

"There were these animals, like whales but smaller and more trusting. They would come to the shore, almost…communicate with those on the sand." Katari cocked her head at the Doctor. "I have been there. I know it. I remember."

He was silent for a moment, taking in her words. He smiled at her suddenly, "Well at least it's a good memory. For now let's enjoy here."

Katari nodded and then stood, "Then let's go swimming!" Katari hopped up and shed her cover up dress, revealing a tasteful black bikini. The Doctor tried to keep his eyes on his book, but found her much more mesmerizing. She grabbed the Doctor's hand and pulled him up. He had enough time to put down his book before she pulled him toward the ocean.

The waves were high, cresting far out and rolling inward toward the beach. Katari was diving forwards into the waves, trying to swim past them in her own game of pretend. She floated up to the surface, laughing and smoothing her wet hair back out of her face. Seeing the Doctor floating near her, she struggled over towards him and suddenly, without warning, leapt at him and pulled him into the ocean with her. The pair came up laughing and coughing, spitting out ocean water.

"You are such a sneaky scamp!" The Doctor flipped around in the water, turning to face Katari. "But there's something you should know."

Katari waited, ready to swim the other direction at a moment's notice.

"When I was a boy…" he spoke quietly at first, "I won many ocean swimming competitions!" He laughed loudly as he took off towards Katari, as she fled from him laughing. Within two strokes he had reached her and grabbed hold of her shoulders, pulling her into him so she couldn't get away.

Katari was laughing, trying to catch her breath as she pushed against him. "You are a big meanie! Let me go!" Her words came out in laughs.

"A big meanie? Really?" He laughed incredulously. "That's the best word you can come up with?"

She began to tire, laughing too hard to swim away. She smiled widely at him, "It's a perfectly legitimate descriptor." He was holding her, arms wrapped around her back. Katari looked at up him, "Only sometimes though. Not all the time."

They were both still suddenly, wrapped together as waves lapped around them, attempting to push them back to the shore. The Doctor began to untangle his arms from around her back, but Katari moved forward suddenly and grasped the back of his neck, bringing them both together as she pressed her lips against his.

The Doctor was taken aback at the feel of her lips. He could taste the peppermint lip balm she'd put on that morning mixed with the taste of the ocean water. The Doctor lost himself in her taste, sliding the tip of his tongue across her upper lip before plunging it into her mouth. Katari moaned as his tongue ran along her own slowly and sensually, exploring and tasting and memorizing.

They broke apart suddenly, breathing heavily from the excitement and adrenaline.

Neither said anything for a moment, trying to process the events.

As if on cue, both backed away from each other, clearing their throats and mumbling. They looked at each other for ideas.

"So…lunch!" The Doctor grinned nervously.

"Yes! Lunch, I'm starving."

Both half-swam, half-walked out of the water and back to their spot on the beach, grabbed their things and headed back to the hotel in silence.

Back in their respective swimsuit cover ups, the two sat across from each other at a table in the hotel's restaurant. They were halfway through their meals, talking periodically and trying desperately to think of things to say in between bites.

Both the Doctor and Katari reached for a roll from the bread basket simultaneously, causing Katari to flinch backward and accidentally drop her napkin on the floor. "Oh, damn," she muttered to herself. She leaned over, moving her leg to steady herself. With a quick snatch she had the napkin in her hand and sat back up, her leg rubbing up against the Doctor's as she moved it back in place under her.

The Doctor jumped a bit in his seat, pulling his legs back and tucking them together. Katari sat stiffly, "Sorry."

She ate another bite of her fish and had just swallowed when she felt the Doctor's leg brush up against her's. Katari looked up at him slowly. When he realized she wasn't pulling away, he shoved his sandal off with his other foot and rubbed her foot slowly with his own.

They were staring at each other now, food forgotten. Their server, a young brunette, appeared next to them, smiling, "Everything okay here? Need anything else?"

The Doctor and Katari slowly looked up at her in a daze.

Katari shook her head, "No, no, we're fine. Maybe…just the check."

The girl held her smile and nodded, "Alright. Would you like a box for your leftovers?"

Both Katari and the Doctor looked back at their half-eaten meals. The Doctor nodded this time, "Sure, that would be great."

The Styrofoam boxes sat on the desk in Katari's hotel room, with one of the lids cracked slightly open after being tossed there with little regard. The Doctor and Katari were leaned against the desk, the Doctor straddling her legs with his. Katari was half-standing, half-sitting on the desk as the Doctor pressed himself against her. The Doctor pulled his lips from hers and began kissing down her neck, sucking and biting as he went. She had her head tilted back, breathing heavily and moaning in pleasure.

Katari pushed the Doctor off of her and smiled mischievously at him as she grabbed his hand and pulled him to the bed. The Doctor crawled backward onto the bed as Katari pulled herself on top of him, covering his mouth with hers once more. With a quick burst of energy the Doctor flipped her over and straddled her.

"You have a thing for being dominant, don't you?" Katari raised an eyebrow at him.

"Depends on my mood." He winked at her and lowered himself closer. The taste of her skin was addicting, sweet and salty and fruity all at once. Slowly he pulled the bottom of her dress up, revealing the bikini he had found so enthralling. His lips traced up her stomach, pausing in between her breasts. Nimbly he found the strap that was pressed against the bed and her back and untied it, pulling the bikini top from her chest.

"You know how beautiful you are?" The Doctor smiled up at Katari, one hand caressing her breast softly.

She gasped suddenly as his mouth covered her breast, licking her nipple in circular motions while he intermittently sucked lightly, making her moan loudly.

"Doctor…" her voice was hoarse with pleasure.

He paused and looked back up at her, smiling as she called his name. He returned to massaging her breast with his tongue while he caressed her other breast, strumming his fingers around the bottom and the sides. Katari ran her fingers through his hair as he caressed her, "Doctor…"

The Doctor pulled himself back up, pulled his cover up over his head and threw it onto the floor. "Much more fun seeing me undressed when you can do something about it, yeah?"

"Oh yeah…" Katari pulled him down to her and flipped him on his back. She climbed on top of him and kissed her way down his stomach. She paused at his hip bone and traced it seductively with her finger. Kissing her way back up, she found the base of his neck with her teeth and began to bite softly, pulling the skin with her teeth and caressing it with her tongue. The Doctor moaned softly, "Katharina…"

She grinned to herself and bit harder, pulling and licking faster. Suddenly she found herself once more on her back.

"That is simply not fair." The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her.

He moved to untie her bikini bottoms, but Katari suddenly felt panic rise up in her chest and her hands flew to his to stop him.

"No, stop."

"What? What's wrong?" The Doctor looked at her wide-eyed, afraid he'd done something wrong.

"I don't know…" Katari closed her eyes. "I guess…I'm just not- not ready. He's still in my head some nights. I can still feel him."

The Doctor stroked her hair and climbed off her, laying next to her on the bed. "It will fade eventually." His fingers traced her cheekbone, "And I will be here when that happens."

They laid together, holding each other and enjoying the sound of the waves outside.

"Doctor, you seemed uneasy after I told you the memory of the silver ocean. Why?" She adjusted herself so she could see his face as she laid on her side.

His eyes met hers and he spoke quietly, "The only ocean that appears silver is one on Gallifrey."

She absorbed the information, flipping it over in her head. "I have had dreams of you in other bodies, ones that I would not have known. I know you each time. I speak to you in another language, which I can understand and speak easily. I remember some of the words." Katari watched him silently for a moment and suddenly said his name.

It was his name. Spoken aloud. The Doctor spoke slowly, "I heard you say it before. You were asleep; you must have been dreaming it."

"But what does that mean? How do I know these things?"

"In the dreams…do you know what you look like?"

Katari shook her head. "No, I can only see out. I see you and Gallifrey. That's all."

"I suppose it's possible you received some knowledge of Gallifrey and of me from the Time Vortex, but…I've never heard of such a thing happening before." He smiled at her suddenly and gently brought her head to his bare chest. "We'll figure it out eventually."


	26. Chapter 26

_They were on Gallifrey; she could feel the peacefulness as if it were a person's presence. Silken sheets underneath them, candles burning throughout the room. The Doctor was kissing her passionately as they both hurried to undress. She knew it wasn't typical, but she didn't care. She liked this rebellious Time Lord, this unconventional being. He plunged himself into her and she screamed in ecstasy. He moved in and out of her, slowly and then quickly, driving them both mad with want. They found the brink quickly, shuddering and gasping for air. He collapsed on her, breathing out her name in awe and love. _

Katari woke suddenly. The Doctor was sitting next to her, reading as she slept. "My name…I know my name."

"Well, that's good. So do I. Now we both know."

"No, no, I mean in the dreams." She turned the name over in her head, trying to remember the particular inflection, then spoke it aloud to the Doctor.

"Are you sure that was it?" The Doctor put his book down on his lap. "Absolutely sure?"

"Yes, I am." Katari cocked her head slightly. "Why? Do you recognize the name?"

The Doctor was wide-eyed. "She was my wife."

"Your wife?" Katari sat up in bed. "Wait, but…" She stopped suddenly, then grew quiet, "We were having sex. In my dream. I was your wife and we were having sex. Does that mean…I was your wife? In a past life, I mean…"

"I suppose it's likely. You said Lady Lacerta was one of your past lives, right? And that she said there were others?"

"Well, she said I had more to remember. So I suppose that's what she meant."

The Doctor nodded, "Yes, yes that makes sense." He got energetic suddenly, "When I was in my room on Tolorius, the woman told me that we were tied together. Our histories were linked. I didn't think much of it at the time, considering I am a Time Lord and histories can be linked in many ways, but…that would fit." He smiled at her and reached a hand up to stroke her cheek, "You do have many of her qualities. Brave, kind, and stubborn to a fault." He chuckled.

Both were silent, absorbed in their own thoughts. The Doctor set down his book on the nightstand and pulled Katari toward him, settling her head against his chest. "I could feel it. The first time we met." He was silent again, mulling over it. "Your unrelinquishing presence. She had that. I felt her presence in you." He chuckled to himself, almost bitterly. "I thought I was losing it. An old man's wishful thinking."

Katari lifted her head off his chest to gaze up at him. "It's why I left my job. Why I put all of it behind me. All I ever wanted to do was teach. It took a lot to leave my students, but there was this..pull in the back of my head. It kept telling me to stay. Lady Lacerta just confirmed it."

She reached up and stroked his cheek with her thumb, her hand gently placed along the side of his head. The Doctor leaned down and captured her lips with his, kissing her slowly and deeply.

Katari pulled off the tank top she'd slipped on earlier following the room service dinner they'd eaten in bed. The Doctor slid down onto his side from where he was sitting against the bed's headboard. He was still shirtless, and Katari had talked him into wearing only his boxers to bed, calling his slacks uncomfortable and rough against her bare legs.

His hands were moving swiftly across her skin, massaging and caressing as they kissed deeply. The Doctor reached behind him as they kissed, grappling around for his sonic screwdriver which was sitting on the nightstand. The screwdriver was heard for a moment before he placed it down again.

"I didn't know you could light candles with that." Katari glanced over the Doctor's shoulder to see why she'd heard the screwdriver. Three decorative candles on the table were now lit.

"What can I say? I'm just full of surprises." He grinned at her and then dipped in to kiss her again.

He felt her hands suddenly, tugging at the waistband of his boxers. Deftly, he slipped them off as he moved to kiss her neck. Katari moaned lightly and felt her way back down his chest and around to grab his ass. The Doctor let out a groan as he was drawn closer to her body, erect and pressing up against her.

"Good to know not all things are different about Time Lord anatomy." She wagged her eyebrows at him and grinded her hips a bit to tease him.

"Well there is one other difference." He thrust his hips toward her to tease her back, then raised an eyebrow mischievously, "We recover much faster than human men."

Katari ripped her own boxers off, revealing black bikini underwear. "Oh, really?" Her hand drew the Doctor's hand down towards her underwear.

She gasped as he gently ran the tip of his finger along the waistband of her underwear, then hooked his finger in the band and lifted it, slipping his hand underneath. He teased her slowly, brushing his hand just above her clitoris.

"Doctor…" Katari's voice came out a hiss as he slipped his finger over her clitoris teasingly, then pushed a finger into her, still rubbing her clit slowly with his thumb.

She squirmed under him, trying to reach underneath him, grab him and make him moan. He shook his head at her, smiling, "No, no."

"No wonder they call you the Oncoming Storm," her voice was breathy, though sarcastic. He flicked at her clit and made her cry out. "Oh, please, Doctor. Don't tease."

His finger slid out smoothly, making her yearn for more. He placed both hands on either side of her, holding himself up above her. "Are you sure?" He was serious, his voice prodding, asking permission.

Katari stared up into his eyes and nodded. "Never been so sure."

With a smile in his eyes, the Doctor lowered himself down against her body and smoothly, gently, pushed himself into her.

...

...

**Did I mention ****that I truly enjoy feedback? Very helpful for finals week. Makes me less insane.**


	27. Chapter 27

__**There is something to say for writing fanfiction the last week of graduate school: it's great for stalling. Also, disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Katy Perry nor any of her music, ditto, ditto, etc, etc. **

_A younger woman with wild, blonde, curly hair stood in front of Katari. "It is important."_

_Katari shook her head at the woman, "But I don't understand. What is it I need to do?"_

_The woman smiled kindly at her, sadness showing in her eyes, "You will understand when the time comes. You will protect the Doctor."_

"_Protect him from _what_?" The fear was rising in Katari. "What am I protecting him from!" _

_The woman was walking away now, slowly, her boots clacking succinctly on the floor. _

Katari woke suddenly, jerking the Doctor awake next to her.

"What? What's wrong?" The Doctor sat up and wrapped his arms around his instinctively.

The woman's words still echoed in Katari's head as she huddled in the Doctor's arms. Still in a bit of a daze, she looked up at the Doctor, "Um, nothing. Just…just a dream."

"What was it about?" He stroked her hair soothingly.

"Um…" Katari thought about the curly-haired woman and her foreboding message. "Ya know, I don't remember." She pretended to shrug nonchalantly. "Must not have been anything worth remembering."

The Doctor studied her with worried eyes before smiling at her, "Let's go back to sleep, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, that sounds good," she gave him what she hoped looked like a genuine smile and slid back down, settling into his side with her arm draped tightly across his chest, as if protecting him from an unknown fate.

The TARDIS had begun playing music for Katari from throughout the 21st century, songs she knew and songs she didn't know. She had already sung along with the Spice Girls and some Beastie Boys, and now the TARDIS had switched to Katari's newest favorite song.

"They say be afraid, you're not like the others, futuristic lover, different DNA, they don't understand you…" Katari bobbed her head in time with the music, moving her hips rhythmically.

The Doctor rolled his eyes from where he was studying some readings on the main console screen.

"Kiss me, ki-ki-kiss me, Infect me with your love and fill me with your poison…" Katari danced around the Doctor, "Take me, ta-ta-take me, wanna be a victim, ready for abduction." She wagged her eyebrows at the Doctor who merely raised an eyebrow in response. "Boy, you're an alien, your touch so foreign, it's supernatural! Extraterrestrial!" Katari grinded up against the Doctor who remained stoically still.

"Are you quite finished?"

Katari grinned at him while she continued to sing.

"It's really quite a terrible song, you know." The Doctor shook his head to himself then looked toward the ceiling, "Stop encouraging her."

In response, the music got slightly louder, the bass thumping a bit harder.

"Traitor," the Doctor mumbled.

The song finished as Katari posed dramatically in the captain's chair as if in a music video. "You're no fun."

"I'm loads of fun! I just don't understand the need to play loud music and dance around in such jerky motions. Now the waltz, _that's_ an excellent dance."

Katari snorted with laughter.

"What? Why are you laughing?" The Doctor looked put out, and pouted slightly.

"You sound like such an _old person_." Katari stuck out her tongue.

"Yeah, that's not what you said last night." The Doctor winked at her.

Katari laughed, doubled over on the captain's chair. "Cheeky bastard."

The Doctor didn't respond, but squinted at the console screen. "That doesn't look right."

"What? What's up?" Katari's laughter died quickly as she stood and walked up behind the Doctor. She pulled herself into him and wrapped her arms around his chest.

"Dunno. Getting some strange readings. Looks like it's originating near Jackie's flat." He punched a few buttons, then took Katari's hands and turned within her embrace, her arms still wrapped around him. He smiled down at her, "Let's go see, hmm?" He dipped down and kissed her deeply, reveling in the naturalness of it.

The TARDIS whirred in travel as the pair held each other in contentment.

"Those don't feel like ghosts to me, Doctor," Katari was looking around the Powell estate at the dark figures as Jackie went on with excitement. "I'm getting a strange vibe from them. I've seen ghosts before; this is different."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, "You've seen ghosts before?"

"I'm a practicing witch, I've become practically immortal after absorbing the Time Vortex, and I'm your wife from a past life and _that's_ hard to believe?" Katari shot him a look.

He shrugged, "Touché. So what do you think they are?"

Katari stared at the creatures. "I have no idea. But it doesn't seem good."


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: This chapter is going to be kind of the intro to what's coming next. Sorry it's taken me a bit - I just finished my graduate courses so I needed a day off. The next chapter will be the last chapter; I may or may not do an Epilogue. **

Katari was amazed by Mickey's presence. He was explaining about the Cybermen, "They found a way through to this world, but - so did we."

"The Doctor said that was impossible."

"Yeah, well, it's not the first time he's been wrong."

Katari looked up at the sphere, anxiety building in her stomach. "What's inside that sphere?"

"No one knows. Cyber Leader, Cyber King, Emperor of the Cybermen... whatever it is…He's dead meat."

She forced the anxiety away and glanced over at Mickey with a smile, "It's good to see you."

He returned the smile warmly, "Yeah. It's good to see you too."

Katari's smile vanished as the sphere started shaking. The man whom she'd tried to fool with the psychic paper shuffled up next to her and Mickey.

"Here we go," Mickey took off the lab coat he was wearing, as the sphere began to open.

The sound of Katari's heart pounded through her ears as light shone from the cracks in the massive metal ball.

"I know what's in there. And I'm ready for them. I've got just the thing," Mickey reached under a counter and pulled out a large type of gun up, "This is gonna blast them to Hell."

The Torchwood employee flashed his eyes over to Mickey in shock, "Samuel, what areyoudoing?

His eyes took on a wild, vengeful look, "The name's Mickey. Mickey Smith. Defending the Earth."

Katari glanced at the gun praying it would work.

But as the sphere's light grew stronger and the sphere began to open wider, Katari suddenly had a sense of foreboding, as if whatever was in the sphere was not what they believed. She turned to Mickey, mouth open, to voice her worry.

Her voice was swallowed as the trio saw four very familiar aliens.

"That's not Cybermen…"

Katari echoed Mickey, in shock, "Oh my God."

The Daleks began to chant mechanically, "Exterminate! Exterminate!"

_Gotta buy some time…how do I buy some time. _Katari looked over at the two men, one of whom was still holding a gun, and the other who was staring in wonder and puzzlement. _They'd kill us before we could kill them. _The Daleks began to glide toward them and panicked Katari yelled, "Daleks!" They continue to come towards them as she shouted again, "You're called Daleks!" She slowly walked toward them, continuing, "I know your name. Think about it - how can I know that? A Human... who knows about the Daleks. And the Time War. If you wanna know how, then keep us alive. That's all I'm asking. My friends and I."

Mickey nodded, playing along, "Yeah, Daleks. Time War. Me too."

The Torchwood doctor agreed, catching on, "Yeah. And me."

The Dalek swiveled his eye-piece toward Katari, "You will be necessary."

Katari sighed, briefly relieved as the Daleks discussed a Genesis Ark. Mickey looked at her with confusion, "I thought you said the Daleks were dead."

She dismissed him, "Never mind that. What the hell's a Genesis Ark?"

Mickey shrugged at her, shaking his head, "Not a clue."

The Daleks were speaking again, demanding the least important of the three of them.

Katari was protesting, but the Torchwood doctor stepped forward, designating himself as a Torchwood representative. The Daleks demanded he kneel, saying they needed to know current Earth history.

With a gasp, Katari watched the Daleks suck his head in towards them, the doctor screaming in protest. Mickey made to move forward, but Katari grabbed at him and pulled him back.

The Daleks were prodding her to touch the casket, to generate the energy they needed from her body.

Katari was shaking her head at the Dalek speaking to her, "I met the Emperor. And I took the Time Vortex and I pulled it into his head and turned him into dust. Do you get that? The God of all Daleks... and I destroyed him." She smirked at the Dalek, and laughed loudly and arrogantly.

"You will be EXTERMINATED!"

The Doctor appeared suddenly, his brown coat swirling at his ankles and a smart ass grin on his face. "Ok now, hold on, wait a minute."

Katari felt her heart race, and suppressed a giggle at the 3D specs he wore.

The Doctor was negating the Daleks now, explaining with confidence that just because he was unarmed, that did not mean he was powerless. Suddenly, as if forgetting there were Daleks in the room, he turned to Katari, "How are you?" His eyes sparkled momentarily.

Her nose crinkled in laughter, surprisingly lighthearted, "Oh, same old, you know." She shrugged nonchalantly.

"Good! And Mickity-McMickey! Nice to see ya'!"

The Daleks angered towards them as Mickey greeted him in return. They quickly turned their attention to the Doctor, "How did you survive the Time War?"

"By fighting. On the front lines. I was there at the fall of Arcadia. Someday I might even come to terms with that. But you lot - ran away!"

"We had to survive."

"The last four Daleks in existence. So what's so special about you?"

Something clicked in Katari's mind, "They have names. Daleks don't have names…"

"The Cult of Skaro! I thought you were a legend."

"Who are they?"

The Doctor explained their purpose, their goal of thinking as the enemy thinks, as Katari swallowed her fear, feeling nauseated from the meaning behind it all. Her fear threatened to spill over once more as she realized the Doctor truly didn't know what Time Lord science the Daleks had. She began to look around nonchalantly to try to figure out a plan – anything that would distract the Daleks, or get the Doctor more time. But suddenly she noticed the Doctor's arm. It was holding his jacket. Katari held her expression, afraid of showing any hope.

The Doctor did exactly as she expected, whipping the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket. As the doors exploded, the Doctor yelled at her, "Katharina, get out!"

Katari yelled for Mickey as they ran for the corridor, and glanced behind her to make sure the Doctor was running with them.


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: So I have decided to do an epilogue. It should be coming shortly. I will also be doing vignettes of Katari and the Doctor's time together - humorous little things; so watch out for those.  
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**Also, please note that the ending to "Doomsday" is different here. Alternate ending for alternate character. :) Thanks for reading. **

Pete and Mickey and Jake had left. Only after Katari had grabbed a magnet from the Doctor's hands had he agreed to let her stay, a look of worry intermixed with a slight smile at her stubbornness to remain with him.

Katari hurried followed the Doctor's instructions, flipping levers and pushing buttons.

"When it starts, just hold on tight. Shouldn't be too bad for us but the Daleks and the Cybermen are steeped in Void Stuff. Are you ready?"

She smiled, hoping he wouldn't see the fear in her eyes. They readied themselves and yanked the levers upward, then quickly grabbed the magnet clamps.

A rush of Cybermen and Daleks flew through the air, pulled violently into the void.

Katari fought to keep her head upright against the pull, peering over at the Doctor to concentrate on him. The Doctor looked up at her and smiled hopefully.

The flood of beings waned, but the rush of the void continued, violently pulling at the Doctor and Katari.

"Doctor, why isn't it closing! What's left!" Katari yelled over the force of the wind.

"There shouldn't be anything left!" The Doctor looked worried, "It should have closed by now!" He readjusted himself to regain a better grasp on the magnet clamp. "If it keeps up it will destroy the rift further! It's not meant to be open this long!"

Katari watched him struggle to figure out what else could be done. "Doctor, do you know of any way to close it!"

He shook his head jerkily against the wind, "Only Time Lord technology could close it now! I don't think the computers are functioning!"

She muttered quietly to herself as she wrapped her arm around the clamp, "Time Lord technology…" And suddenly she knew. She knew what the dreams meant, what the mysterious woman meant and who she was. It was all there, as if a light switch had been flicked on inside her head; as if a page had been turned and it was all there in black and white, everything outlined step by step.

"Doctor!" She swallowed to hold back tears, "I have to close it!"

"There's no way to, Katari!"

"Yes! There is!" A stray tear fell and was swept away. "Bad Wolf! Bad Wolf can close it!"

His eyes widened quickly and then narrowed again as he realized what she meant. "No! I will figure something else out!"

"There isn't anything else, Doctor!"

"But you will be trapped in the void forever!"

She shook her head, "Not if I give up the Bad Wolf. Not if I separate it from my body and let it allow my body to die."

"I will close the void, Katharina. Not you."

She stared at him for a moment, "The universe needs the Doctor! I am here to protect you! Bad Wolf was created to protect you! You will see me again!"

"Katharina…" The Doctor pleaded over the wind.

She smiled at him, tears cascading quickly down her cheeks and over her lips before being carried off into nothingness. "Look for me, Doctor! Look for me again! Listen for the song born of the water, and you will have me once more!"

"Katharina Ariel!" The Doctor called suddenly, afraid she would let go before he could say it. "I-" He paused, hesitating. "I…"

"I know, Doctor!" Her voice was shaking, "I love you too!"

With that she let go of the clamp, watching the Doctor as her body flew towards the vortex. As she was pulled inward, a glow erupted from her body, surrounding the void as if hands were caressing the room. She disappeared with one final longing look at the Doctor and the golden light took hold of the vortex, forcing it inward until it vanished.

The Doctor regained his balance slowly, his body aching from hanging on to the magnet. She had sacrificed herself. There was an empty space suddenly. It hung in his hearts, in his mind. It seemed as if it were everywhere, casting a shadow on him. A tiny cloud following him, draining him of his life, his desire. _Listen for the song born of the water_. He had no idea what she meant. She'd told him she loved him. She wouldn't let him say it. Why didn't she let him say it?

Why, oh why, had she been so smart?


	30. Epilogue

**A/N: Thanks, everyone for reading. :) It's been fun.**

**SPOILER WARNING: This takes place in the middle of A Good Man Goes to War **

**If you're feeling kind - perhaps you could Review, yes? **

The Doctor pushed in the coordinates, pushing his hair out of his eyes. This regeneration's hair just flopped everywhere, a bit annoying at times, though he generally liked it. The TARDIS settled to a stop.

With a quick bounce, the Doctor grabbed the monk's robe and dashed for the door. He paused momentarily as he began to push the door open.

Turning slowly and looking behind him, he furrowed his eyebrows, "I could've sworn…" His muttering drifted off. No, he couldn't possibly have smelled incense. He hadn't been near incense in years, not after… He dismissed the thought and bounded on. "Got a mom and baby to save!"

The Doctor grinned at Melody from where Amy held her in the captain's chair. She was a cute little thing. Would probably be a liability on the TARDIS, what with the constant running and potential likelihood that the TARDIS would crash… But she did have a sort of charm to her.

Melody looked up at the Doctor suddenly, her eyes studying him. He grinned at her, and then slowly the grin faded to a confused look. He had an overwhelming sense of a familiar presence. A very familiar presence.

He glanced around, attempting to see if he had missed something. _That feels like… I _know _that presence. _

There was a gurgle from Melody. The Doctor's eyes swiveled back down to Melody. "No…it can't be."

_Doctor_. Melody stared up at him, gurgling his name.

His eyes widened. _Listen for the song born of the water. _Katari's voice echoed in his head, making him almost shiver from its clarity, as if she were in the room with him. The Doctor glanced back at Melody and laughed. He laughed and laughed as Melody began to cry and Amy asked him to turn off the TARDIS's hum.

And even after Amy carried Melody off the TARDIS, his laugh could be heard echoing inside the console room.


End file.
